Hopes
by HiddenAuthor
Summary: Back in September, Danny's life became very complicated.  Now in April, ghost and human politics collide and conspire to threaten the greatest source of stability in Danny's life.  His secret identity.  SEQUEL TO EXCEPTIONS
1. Improvements

Hopes

It has been several months since Danny Phantom went from mysterious threat to hero in the eyes of Amity Park, and in that time a lot has happened. Danielle remains stable but unchanged, deep in the Fentons' basement lab. Damon Gray is head of the grossly under funded new Antighost Security Division. And the mysterious Phantom and Huntress can be seen flying the city by night, searching for invading ghosts…together. But all is not well. After months imprisoned in time, Vlad Masters is free to roam the world again. In the limelight of heroism, local sleuths seek to understand more about the mysterious Phantom. And what is Clockwork so worried about? With Phantom's secret identity on the line, how can he fight the danger when it's from innocent humans?

Prolog – Author Stuff

Disclaimer – I own nothing but the plot. Danny Phantom and associated…uh…stuff, belong to Butch Hartman and/or Nick Studios. Anything else that's not mine belongs to who it belongs to. Ethren belongs to the brilliant Garth Nix, but its nature and use in this story is mine.

I have returned. With a very long summary. This is 'Hopes', sequel to 'Exceptions' and 'Complications' (More shameless plugs). It is the LAST one in a set of three. If you haven't read those, this might be a little weird for you. I based my stuff off of canon for the most part, but a lot has happened, so it would be VERY hard to understand if you just jumped in here. If you HAVE read the other two, welcome back:D Please kidnap your friends, tie them to chairs, and force them to read them as well. ;) Also, I am operating under the assumption that there was no 'Urban Jungle.' There wasn't one when I started this arc, and it would make no sense to shove it in now.

I'll quickly repeat my policy on reviews. I love them. Especially those with some constructive criticism or suggestions. Or if you think there was something in a chapter that was particularly good or bad, I'd like to know. I want to improve my writing, and while experience helps, reviews help more. (Trust me, I now spell Valerie and Desiree correctly thanks solely to reviews) I look forward to hearing from you. I give special, individual responses to every single review, so I definitely care. That's about it.

Thank you for your time and attention. We will now return to our regularly scheduled broadcast.

Chapter 1 – Improvements

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Danny mumbled to himself and pulled his pillow over his head, one leg hanging off the edge of his bed and his covers bunched up as he tried desperately to stay asleep.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Tossing the useless thing aside, the teenager propped himself on his elbow, wincing in the morning light. Grumbling to himself, he glared angrily at the annoying device.

BEEP! BE-

The obnoxious alarm cut off suddenly as an accidental ectoblast shot from his eyes, reducing his clock to slag.

"Uugghhh." Groaning, Danny turned and buried his head back in his pillow. He hated Mondays. The half ghost hadn't been sleeping well lately, and was always groggy in the morning, which tended to make him irritable. His sister had been forbidden to wake him after he accidentally burnt a hole in the wall above her head last month. After all, they could always buy more clocks.

Stretching briefly to shake off any lingering fatigue, he stood up and walked towards the wall between his room and the upstairs bathroom, grabbing a change of clothes on the way.

"Ow!" Reeling back and rubbing his head, Danny raised an eyebrow and curiously tapped an intangible hand against a _very_ solid wall. "What the heck?" Walking over to another wall, he once again tried passing an arm through. Again, nothing. Scratching his head, Danny walked out into the hallway, intent on asking his parents if they'd done…whatever it was they did. The ghost boy still had no idea how they came up with their ideas, especially for things like the 'anti-creep stick.' Halfway down the hall, he almost crashed into Jazz as she stepped out of the bathroom, hair tied up in a towel. With a curious one-eyed stare, he quickly stuck his arm through her head. The older girl's eyes came together on her face to watch, and then turned to her brother questioningly.

"Um, Danny? Not trying to sound weird or anything, but what are you doing? I think this could be considered a serious violation of personal boundaries." Danny just frowned in response.

"Just checking something. I can't phase through the walls for some reason." The ghost boy stomped his foot down. "Or the floor. Any ideas?" Jazz shrugged.

"Nope. You should check with mom and dad." The older girl sighed as she walked downstairs. "Only in our family would someone _not_ being able to walk through stuff be a sign that something's wrong."

Rolling his eyes, Danny quickly showered, changed, and jogged into the kitchen. His parents were quietly nibbling on toast and sipping coffee, while Jazz shot him an occasional amused look then hastily returned her eyes to her morning tea, giggling slightly. "Mom, dad, did you two do something to the walls?"

Maddie flushed slightly. "Err, yes."

"Why?" Now his mother was blushing furiously.

"Well, um, that is to say, we, well…" Jazz burst into a laughing fit. Maddie shot her daughter an indignant look at the interruption. The older girl merely shrugged, and lightly tossed a folded up newspaper across the table, where Danny promptly picked it up and scanned the headlines.

"The Amity Park Sunday Spook?" The older Fentons nodded.

"It's a local tabloid. They started out around the first time we pulled up the city anti-ghost dome. Some ridiculous article about the mayor turning the city into a giant electrified prison. But the garbage sold out the first day and they've become more and more popular, especially the articles on the supposed, er, 'relationship', between you and the Red Huntress. We read it just in case they ever find out something right. This issue came out yesterday"

Danny rolled his eyes. "You've gotta be kidding me. It's bad enough I have to listen to those stupid rumors at school, these guys are printing it?" He shot his parents a glance. "But that doesn't answer my question." His father nodded, looking uncomfortable, if slightly amused.

"Er, second article on page three." Danny hastily flipped the page. His mouth fell open, cheeks lighting up.

'_Super Spook or Peeping Phantom?_

_Local hero Danny Phantom. Whenever a ghost strikes, this valiant young spirit is never far, swooping in to save the day and the ordinary citizens of Amity Park. But where is he when he's not fighting ghosts? What is Phantom's dark secret? The Daily Spook has the answer! Our researchers have seen Phantom fly regularly to Casper High School and several different local homes after a battle, particularly those of Miss Samantha "Sam" Manson and Jasmine "Jazz" Fenton. Ecto-examination confirmed ectoplasmic residue on the bedroom windows of both young girls and the school's female locker room. Is our town hero a closet pervert? More on Page 8.'_

Danny dropped the paper like a poisonous snake, completely red. Halfway through, Jazz had lost control and choked on some tea. The young ghost shot his parents a desperate glance. "You don't actually believe this right?"

"Of course not. You visit Sam and Tucker all the time, some traceable residue is understandable, not that the public knows that. And the school probably glows in the dark by now considering how much time you spend there, even with fewer detentions. And our house? We study ghosts! Of _course_ our house has residue, I'd be worried if it didn't." Maddie rested a hand on her son's shoulder.

"We trust you Danny. You've never given us any reason not to. Although," his mother pursed her lips, "Sam's parents probably aren't too happy right now."

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"Grounded?" Danny asked incredulously at lunch. Sam just nodded irritably. She'd been the target of countless whispers and a particularly waspish set of jabs from Paulina all day. She put up a strong front, but Danny could see it was starting to hurt. He was glad he'd asked Tucker and Valerie to give them some space today. His girlfriend was definitely not up for jokes right now, and Tucker wasn't exactly the ideal in tact.

"Two weeks since there's no real proof I knew it was happening. It's so unfair! They wouldn't even care if Phantom and I were…doing whatever they thought we were doing. In my bedroom. At night. When they weren't around." She said, turning slightly red at the implications. "They're just mad that I was in a bad article! What's the point in punishing me if _I'm_ not the reason they're mad?" The frustrated young activist dropped down onto her elbows, letting some of her frustration and hurt over the rumors leak out. "And what's even worse is I have a perfectly legitimate reason to visit with you since we're dating, but I can't _tell_ anyone that. Do you know how many people have asked if you broke up with me over this?" Danny raised an eyebrow.

"What? Why would I do that? And why would anyone care?" Sam snorted and shot him a patronizing look.

"You really are clueless you know? You can't honestly think that without skintight spandex the effect of a year and a half of ghost fighting workouts won't show. Half the girls in our grade are probably waiting for you to break up with me. The less popular half, but still…" Danny turned very red at this, and just looked down at his plate, rubbing his neck. "And it doesn't hurt that you're actually taller than all the girls now, either." Danny _had_ put on another 25 pounds and four inches since September, but that wasn't that big of a deal. Most people just looked at his dad and shrugged, figuring such things were inevitable. The ghost boy shifted uncomfortably. He was about to retort when he caught Valerie and Tucker walking over. Shooting Sam a quick warning glance against saying anything 'ghostly', he smiled over at the couple, who quickly took their usual seats across the table.

"Your mom just called me Danny. She said I had to provide eye-witness testimony that you took your medicine today." Valerie shot the groaning ghost boy an evil smirk. Sagging with defeat, he started rummaging through his backpack.

"Why'd she ask _you_, anyway?" He asked irritably.

"Because," she said, still grinning, "I won't lie to her about it." Tucker and Sam flushed guiltily as Danny pulled up a thermos, scowling. It wasn't a Fenton Ghost Catching Thermos, but it did look like it had some radiation shielding. The ghost boy unscrewed the lid with visible reluctance and shot Val a pleading look. The girl stood firm. Slumping in defeat, Danny pinched his nose and gagged down the strange green liquid, which would probably glow on its own if the sun weren't out. Valerie and any other student that actually cared had been told it was an herbal supplement to combat a vital nutrient deficiency, but that was of course not true. Still, since Danny had been taking the stuff weekly since October, a plausible story had been required.

About a month after the mess with Vlad and Danny's alternate future self, Danny had become strangely weak and malnourished. He'd been eating three, then four meals a day, but his condition continued to deteriorate. Eventually, Jack and Maddie had stumbled on the answer. Ghosts in their natural state gained sustenance directly from the energy-stuff of the ghost zone, subsisting only on the mental emanations of humans and ambient energy when outside their native plane. While that was enough to sustain many ghosts, most of the more powerful ones would have to occasionally return to their home plane to rest and regain their strength, or constantly create terror and panic to increase the level of mental energy around them. For the first year of his half-ghostly existence, Danny had gotten by on food and the occasional thought alone, even if he wasn't aware that his ghost side needed such things. But that had changed quickly after his power spurt. With his energy level so significantly increased and the hero never trying to _cause_ agitation among the humans he protected, he had been burning much more energy than he could consume. Despite his full, complete diet, Danny had been starving to death.

The solution was simple if unappetizing. Once a week, or more when necessary, Danny would choke down a solution of concentrated, purified ectoplasm with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. While his ghost side seemed completely satisfied with the new arrangement and his health took a turn for the better, his human tastes had a serious problem taking in anything radioactive on a weekly basis. So occasionally he would 'forget' to take his ghostly supplement. This was why Valerie had come over to watch on his mother's orders.

Danny sent Valerie another dark scowl as he desperately chugged a glass of water, trying to force the taste from his mouth. Laughing slightly, Val grabbed Tucker's arm and the two went off to enjoy the rest of their free time together. Sam watched them go with a strange look on her face.

"Danny, you know how I've always felt about telling Valerie you're part ghost. But she trusts Phantom now. Why not tell her? Even if there's a risk she'll resent being lied to, I can't figure out why you don't. I mean, it's only a matter of time before she figures it out on her own." Danny shrugged, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"It's complicated." He said eventually. "I know telling her would make things easier. I just…can't do it yet."

"But-"

"Can we talk about something else?" He asked, a little irritably. Sam frowned at him.

"Like Phantom's secret peeping habits?" Danny glared over at her. She smirked slightly.

"How about you double timing with me and some ghost?" He teased back. His girlfriend sighed, and then looked back up.

"Poe debate?" He grinned.

"Poe debate."

Even if ghosts were still finding creative ways into his haunt, Danny had so much help now from Valerie and her father's new anti-ghost projects that he actually had time to study. While he hadn't improved by leaps and bounds in most classes, especially math, he'd been pleasantly surprised to learn that he really enjoyed English. Now that he had time to read the material and wasn't sleeping through class, he'd found he actually enjoyed most of what he read. Though he had made Sam and Tucker promise they would hit him very hard if he ever used a book title as an expletive. Since the semester started back in January, he and Sam had been playfully debating the works of different dark authors. Right now they were on Poe.

"Okay," she said, "today's debate will be on the meaning of 'Annabelle Lee.'"

Danny nodded brusquely and motioned for Sam to start. Nodding back, she took a deep breath.

"I think Annabelle was always dead, and the young lover fell in love with a corpse. The poem is about love transcending death and common opinion on right and wrong." Danny looked visibly sick, and not just from the ecto-junk.

"Ew. Come on Sam. Poe was crazy, but he wasn't sick. The poem was about the young man losing the woman he loved when evil spirits attacked her. It's about how hurt he was to lose a girl he cared so much about just because some evil creatures hated them. How he couldn't bare to live without her."

"Then why all those lines about how their love was unconventional and how she only 'lived to be loved' by him?"

Danny scowled. "It was an exaggeration. He meant they loved each other more than anything. Seriously Sam, you're twisting a wonderful tragedy into something really morbid and gross. Who'd be sick enough to love a dead person?" Sam quirked an eyebrow at him. Danny flushed.

"That's not fair." Sam's grin only grew. "Come on Sam," he pleaded, "Poe wouldn't have thought of that. My parents made a career out of ghosts and even _they_ didn't think of it until I told them." She just sat there and looked at him smugly. Finally he sighed with defeat. "Fine. You win."

"Yes. I do." Smiling, she pulled his head down and kissed him. The bell rang, and countless students started off towards their next class.

Danny met up with Tucker in the locker room before gym. Changing into his spare clothes, Danny quirked an eyebrow at his friend.

"Have a nice lunch with Valerie?" Tucker smiled.

"Yep."

"Eat anything?" Tucker flushed a bit. Danny chuckled.

"Hey! Don't give me that. I saw you and Sam before the bell."

"We were just making up after our latest Poe battle." Tucker smirked.

"She win?" Danny shoved his regular clothes into his gym locker with slightly more than necessary force.

"She cheated." Tucker just chuckled, locking up his own clothes.

"Yeah, I guess you can't make a good argument when your mortal enemy sucks the air out of you." Danny opened his mouth to retort when a pair of hands shoved him towards the lockers.

"Watch it Fenton." Dash said sarcastically as he strutted out of the locker room, his friends chortling behind him. Danny scowled as he pushed himself up off of the floor.

"You should have punched him again, dude." Tucker was glaring at the swinging door with distaste.

A few days after Dan's attack, Dash had cornered Danny in the school hallway and challenged him to another fight. And Danny had taken a dive. Dash's punch probably would have knocked several people out, but Danny'd had way worse on a good day. With some ghost-energy carrying over to his human side, the thing barely raised a bruise, and that was gone by lunch. Still, his crime against Casper's social order had been punished, and things could return to normal. Surprisingly, Dash had toned down the bullying a lot after that, only giving him the occasional grief when he had several friends watching expectantly. Danny suspected that while Dash didn't know his secret, he did know Danny could tear him apart if he wanted, and was secretly grateful Danny had let him win that fight, even if he couldn't understand why.

Shrugging both to give Tucker a response and shake off pointless thoughts, Danny headed up to gym, and promptly went into his 'slightly sub-par' routine. Not that he was a hotshot as a human anyway, but the less he seemed like Phantom, the better. The only time he really paid attention was during weight lifting, where he carefully checked the numbers before trying any machine. Even as a human, his body didn't always feel like obeying the laws of physics, especially since his powers increased. Leaks causing phasing and vanishing were old hat and easily controlled, but lately almost _any _one of his powers might feel like popping up on his human side if he was in the wrong mood. Earlier in the year Dash had swapped out the weight pin on one of the machines as a prank on him, and he hadn't noticed until he started getting bug-eyed looks. Fortunately they'd just assumed a wire had slipped or something. Still, he'd been careful about the weight set ever since. That and the climbing rope. He still shuddered at how close _that_ had been.

After gym ended, Danny Sam and Tucker headed towards the Fenton's together. They'd managed to score last period study hall all year, and were always leaving early. Laughing about a joke Tucker had just told involving an alien, a school bus, and a moose; two of the three friends vaulted Fenton Work's front steps and headed inside. Sam waved goodbye miserably, continuing on her way home. Ushering Tucker into the living room, Danny quickly ran upstairs and dropped off his books, then rushed back down. His friend shot him an odd look.

"Dude, since when did you start using the stairs again?" Danny shrugged awkwardly as he pushed in a video game, tossing him a spare controller.

"Since yesterday. Mom and dad were so upset about that 'Spook' article that they invented a whole new ghost-proofing material to prove I wasn't some invisible stalker. Then tested it on the house. Something about ecto-coating Iron in an activating ghost portal to phase-proof the material." His friend gaped at him slightly. "I don't know how it works! They said they got the idea from my accident. They can't do that sort of thing to living stuff because of radiation damage, but they can do it to other stuff. Apparently putting iron into the portal turns it all gold colored and makes it impossible for ghosts to phase through it. Mom and Dad call it Ethren." Tucker chuckled slightly, shaking his head.

"Weird. You'd think it would be called the 'Fenton Anit-Phasing Sheet Metal' or something." Danny grinned as he plopped down on the couch.

"I asked dad about that. He said something about ghosts expecting it to be called that. But I gave up trying to understand how he thinks a while ago. Anyway, they ground the stuff down and mixed it into a colorless spray, so you can put up a ghost-proof barrier on your walls and floor. It can't absorb ghost energy or stop them from touching or destroying stuff, but it's impossible to phase through. They'll be selling the stuff at local stores, so people can stop worrying about 'invisible peepers.'" At this Danny glowered slightly and turned the console on. Tucker chuckled.

"About that. How often do you visit Sam's as Phantom exactly?" Danny blushed.

"Uh…" Tucker quickly held up a hand.

"Never mind dude. Not my business. Besides, if you were doing anything serious, you'd have stopped blushing at my couple jokes by now. Although," he said gripping his chin in mock-thought, "these rumors are just going to start again once her first kid _floats_ out of her." Danny abruptly flung away the controller and tackled Tucker, who was laughing furiously. A few minutes later the annoyed geek was hanging upside-down from the ceiling fan, glaring at his smug friend.

"Okay, okay. Sorry about the baby joke! Jeez!" Sighing, Danny floated up and let his friend down.

"It's not funny Tuck. I mean, that could actually _happen _someday." The half ghost shuddered, and then a pained look crossed his face. "And it's not like I haven't thought about that happening. Or what if it doesn't? I'm not technically human, Tuck, what if I can't have kids at all? I don't want to _now_, but what about in ten years?" Danny sat down heavily and stared moodily at the TV. "I don't really like to think about it." Frowning, Tucker mentally pulled his foot out of his mouth and sat down beside his friend.

"Hey. What's done is done. No point worrying now, right?" Danny just nodded silently. "Seriously dude, relax. Things have a way of working out. For you, anyway." Chuckling, Tucker picked up his controller and proceeded to thrash his friend at every game he owned. Half an hour later, Maddie and Jack came upstairs.

"Danny, did you take your medicine?" Danny scowled over at his mother and nodded.

"Yeah. Why'd you have to drag Valerie into it like that?"

"Because you wouldn't take it unless I did. I thought Jack would have to hold you down this morning when I brought out this week's thermoses. And you know you need to take it." Danny groaned.

"Easy for you to say, you don't have to try it." Maddie smiled softly.

"I would, sweetie, but ectoplasm can do strange things to humans." She gave him a pointed look. Tucker snorted.

"Did you want anything mom?" Danny asked curiously. Maddie nodded apologetically.

"Yes. It's one of the reasons I made sure you took the ectoplasm today. We need some more samples for a new experiment for Danielle. We think we might be on the verge of another breakthrough." The ghost boy shot up with a hopeful smile at that.

"The electric shock thing?" Jack nodded from the doorway.

"Your old samples seemed to respond. The ones we shocked lasted for different lengths of time depending on the frequency, but they all lasted at least twice as long as the one we didn't shock before they dissipated. It's the best results we've had yet. Also," he said, lifting a finger and grinning, "we think ultra-low frequency current might make ghosts ticklish or drunk. That doesn't really help, but it's definitely new!" With that, the older hunter happily jogged downstairs again. Tucker just shook his head.

"Dude, your family is seriously weird." Danny turned to his friend with a slightly bemused expression.

"I'm a ghost, my dad rigged our car to shoot death rays, my mom's hotdogs attack people, and my cousin is a puddle in the basement. What's weird?" With that, he followed his mother downstairs, Tucker close behind.

Smiling apologetically at her son, Maddie motioned Danny into a tray by the lab table as Jack set up five odd containers further down and pulled out a short metal wand. Once he was inside, the ghost boy sighed and signaled he was ready, quietly changing into his ghost form.

"Think fast." Maddie said in a forced cheerful tone and tossed a small coin like device at her son. A second later it made contact, and Danny just fell apart. Hurrying to get the samples before any lasting damage might be done; Mrs. Fenton pulled out a syringe and started extracting some of the glowing green slime that now filled the tray. Tucker watched from the side, a similar shade of green.

"Why can't you just take his blood again?" Maddie grunted as she sucked up another few tablespoons of her son.

"This is as close to Danielle's current condition as we can get. Even the genetic structure is similar, since she's a clone. Besides, Danny says it doesn't hurt."

"Yeah," Tucker mumbled to himself, "but he said Skulker didn't hurt either."

Finally, Maddie siphoned off the fifth sample and nodded abruptly at her husband. Stepping forward quickly but carefully, Jack reached down and touched the end of the metal device to the Fenton Ghost-Gooper and it immediately latched onto it instead. The hunter slowly withdrew the small round device as Danny's body reformed. The ghost boy shivered as he pulled himself together.

"Brr. I _hate_ getting melted! You won't need more soon right?" He asked, slightly woozy. Maddie shook her head as Jack carried the vials over to the five boxes.

"Jack, make sure the electrodes are inside the samples before you set them." She called out to her husband. Then she turned back towards her son. "No Danny, we won't need more this week. We know electricity is effective. Now we're going to try using the most effective frequency we found before on samples at different temperatures. We know ectoplasm becomes more fluid as it heats, or I suppose as it absorbs heat from its environment. But we don't know how that changes conductivity or how it will respond to electrical impulses. We might be able to stimulate one of them to a greater degree. Samples at room temperature with the impulse actually started reacting like a spasming muscle. They twitched! If we can just jumpstart Dani's mind _somehow_, she might…wake up." The three looked over at a large covered beaker in the corner sadly.

While Danielle's 'body' didn't seem to be deteriorating, and it had been stabilized, it wasn't doing anything else. If Dani was still in there somewhere, she was either deeply unconscious or unable to change back. The Fentons had been trying to recreate her body from the outside since she melted, but so far they had not been successful.

Maddie smiled at the two friends. "Why don't you go have some fun now and recover? Jack and I will be fine down here on our own. We'll have to check the temperatures of the sample every few minutes for the next several hours before we can run the current."

Nodding, the friends headed back upstairs, saying hi to Jazz as she came inside. After another round of video games, Tucker took off to go see Valerie, leaving Danny alone to finish some math work. Pausing between problems to get rid of the numbers spinning around in his head, Danny suddenly sat bolt upright and grinned. Jogging up to his room, he threw open the hidden black door in his closet and headed off into the maze-like halls of his painstakingly reconstructed lair.

Clockwork had decided to pay a visit.


	2. Alternates

Hi!

Thanks and love are extended to my five super cool reviewers, Diamond Raider, Funkatron, Meagainsttheworld, Epona Harper, and cordria. I'm extremely thankful for the support and comments, and remember to throw stuff at me if I do something too stupid. I'd rather have the bruise than write badly.

For those who have read and not reviewed yet or have just found this piece: I look forward to hearing from you. I love reviews, they're like candy...or something. Anywho, I love reviews, so if you see something to review, please go ahead. I'll listen and answer. That said, here's chapter two.

Ta,

HiddenAuthor

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Chapter 2 – Alternates

"Clockwork. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Danny asked with a touch of amusement. The ancient time spirit smiled sardonically from his seat.

"Just here for a friendly game."

Danny's relationship with the powerful ghost had undergone a lot of turmoil since he lost Danielle. Especially during the staged funeral. Every time someone had come to say what an unexpected tragedy it was, the time ghost had flashed before his eyes. Despite all the good that had come from the ghost's meddling, Danny wasn't sure he could ever forgive him for his role in Dani's condition. But Clockwork had worked very hard to rebuild their friendship, going so far as to drop the occasional forecast for Dani's recovery. While he couldn't tell Danny the future, he could give him the odds, and the ghost boy could compare them with what his parents tried to help narrow down what worked and what didn't. While not taking back his actions, Clockwork's sincere efforts to make things right had succeeded in repairing their friendship, though it was not unchanged. Danny now knew that while Clockwork was both powerful and knowledgeable, he did not actually know everything and could be every bit as uncertain as anyone else, even if he didn't show it often. Knowing this, he doubted he could ever be in awe of the ancient spirit as he used to, but his friend seemed to enjoy being able to drop the 'god' act around his young charge and sort out his confusion with someone who talked back. Their new relationship was based largely around a mutual respect, rather than a sort of reverence, and Danny had to admit he liked spending time with Clockwork much more because of it.

Back in January Danny had come to Clockwork on a friendly visit and found the time ghost looking slightly uncomfortable.

'_Danny, I cannot tell you very much, but certain futures are becoming increasingly more likely. Futures where you will need to be prepared to succeed.'_

_Danny quirked an eyebrow at that. 'Prepared?'_

_Clockwork sighed, sitting back in his usual lounge chair. 'You need to work on your strategy skills. Vlad may be insane, and currently frozen, but he was not entirely wrong when he said some knowledge on the subject would be beneficial. And he won't be frozen forever.' Danny snorted at this._

'_That chess garbage? He's been going on and on about that for as long as I've known him, and he still hasn't succeeded. At anything.' Clockwork smiled._

'_True. We will play chess, but not exclusively. While Vlad is right that a great deal of strategy is involved in chess, it is not a perfect metaphor for life. No matter the arrangement, chess pieces will always move the same way. So Vlad expects the people he's manipulating to do the same, which is why he always fails. While I recommend we play chess to improve your logic skills, for true random strategy I recommend a different game.' The time ghost whipped out a deck of cards and shuffled, grinning. 'Do you play poker?'_

Clockwork had chosen his games well. While chess helped Danny to learn to plan ahead, Poker was geared towards knowing your opponent; his tells, his habits, what hands he might be hiding. And one of the other benefits of the card game was that for some reason, Clockwork could not accurately predict the results of a shuffle. Something about momentary friction and minute hand tremors. The two had been playing each other for months now, sometimes in the time ghost's study, sometimes in a special room prepared for the powerful guest near Danny's ghost door. Danny usually lost, but he was gradually improving, much to Clockwork's pleasure and slight dismay. He wasn't perfect, and one thing he hated was being wrong when he predicted something.

"Straight, king high." The ancient ghost smiled smugly, wrapping his arm around the pot and pulling it towards himself. Danny slapped his hand down on his opponent's arm, stopping it. Grinning, he laid down his hand.

"Full house, aces over fives." Clockwork groaned, rubbing his temples, as Danny pulled the sizable pot towards himself.

"I could have sworn you had a flush. You seemed far too confident." Danny shrugged.

"I usually look confident when I have a good hand. You just always assume I have less than my looks would indicate." The time ghost grumbled.

"I swear, if luck were a ghost power…"

His friend shifted uncomfortably. "It is." He said shortly. "Bad luck, anyway. Don't know about good." His face fell. "How's Johnny?"

Clockwork fell back with a sigh, absently shuffling the deck. "His existence will continue. But Dan's rage was intense. His back was broken in five places, slowly. His arms and legs are at very odd angles, and he has no use of any of his limbs. However, it does not seem to be true paralysis, and he may recover eventually. I have heard that he is using his shadow creatively to manipulate his body, though the bad luck he absorbs tends to draw dangerous ghost animals. Kitty hasn't left his side the entire time." Danny nodded mutely and accepted his cards. Garbage.

"Is anyone else that bad off?" He asked quietly as he requested three replacement cards.

Dan's rampage had devastated the ghost zone, and many were still in the process of rebuilding both their homes and bodies. While he certainly didn't like most of the ghosts this had happened to, he wouldn't have wished such a horrible thing to happen to them. It was stupid, but he couldn't help feeling slightly guilty. He and his alternate future self shared the same hates, and in his other self they had been painfully expressed. Danny couldn't help but feel that if he had only tried to make peace with them, this might not have happened. More bad news, his new hand still had nothing.

"No." Clockwork responded soberly. "Technus and Skulker seem to have reached a truce, and are helping each other to recover. Ember might never sing again, but I've heard she still writes songs, and Ghost Writer is teaching her to create poetry. It's not singing, but she may find something new to enjoy. Klemper hasn't been seen, but his lair is still there, so I assume he's hiding while he recovers. It seems very little permanent damage was done." He set down a sizable opening bet, and Danny matched it, trying to keep a straight face for reasons beyond poker.

"And Dani?" Clockwork suddenly smiled.

"Well," he said nonchalantly, "if I happened to be checking the time stream before I came, and I happened to check the futures of you and those close to you as I often do, I may have seen several negative futures vanish after you started that temperature experiment."

Danny grinned. "Really?"

The time ghost doubled his bet, and Danny quickly folded. Smiling in satisfaction, he raked in his winnings and showed a worthless hand.

"I still bluff better than you. But I suppose I've had more practice. Yes, really. The odds went from about 52-48 to 56-44 in her favor, the most dramatic shift yet. Your parents really are amazing. Incidentally, I heard they've developed a ghost-proofing material. The odds they would succeed were actually quite small; my chips were on Axion figuring it out first. Still, every new technology helps, right?"

Danny nodded, wincing slightly as his head throbbed in memory. The side of Clockwork's mouth curled up and he dealt another hand.

"So," Danny asked as he looked at a decent hand, trying to sound casual, "is that 'strategy' future still coming?" Clockwork paused, and then nodded slowly.

"Yes. In more ways than one. I can't give you any specifics, Danny; I never could. Just remember that things have a way of working out if you can find a good plan."

"Weird." Danny said, taking the pot. "Tucker said the exact same thing. Still, I guess I can always come to you for advice when I need it." The older ghost paused for a moment, and seemed about to say something. Then, he sighed and sat back as he placed his chips.

"You should learn to be confident in yourself Danny. You don't really need me."

The two spent the next few hours playing poker in the permanent ethereal moonlight of Danny's lair, the nearby fountains creating a pleasant, if eerie, echo around them. Finally, after a quick last-minute chess match, Clockwork bid his young friend farewell and headed out, promising to meet with him again shortly. Smiling at the good news, Danny headed out and finished his math work. After replacing his alarm clock, the ghost boy drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.

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'_Danielle! Don't do this!' Danny watched helplessly once again as his brave, desperate cousin threw her head forward and froze his powerful enemy solid, tears falling down his face. Sadness gave way to confusion as he watched his enemy. He wasn't in the ice. Something else was inside. Floating to his feet, the ghost boy walked over and brushed flecks of ice off of the strange, smooth object._

_It was a mirror. The young ghost watched in horror as his reflection rippled and blurred in the glass, and found himself gazing at Dan Phantom, laughing at him in his terror._

'_They say a ghost's lair is a place they go to find themselves.' He said, smiling evilly, and gave a half bow. 'Well, here I am.'_

_Terrified and furious, Danny punched the mirror as hard as he could. The glass shattered with a deafening explosion, tiny fragments clinking onto the stone floor below. The ghost boy's look of satisfaction turned once again to terror as he looked at his hand. His blue hand. With cruel, pointed nails, red with Valerie's blood. His swirling cape could be seen billowing around his feet. Confused and ashamed, he turned to run, and froze, staring down._

_Danielle was glaring at him darkly, standing between him and a helpless cowering dark-haired boy. 'No,' she said back to him, 'I'm going to protect _you_ now.'_

_And the ghost girl threw her head forward and screamed, even as her body fell apart._

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"Ahhh!" Jazz sat bolt upright in bed, eyes shooting open. A moment later, recognition dawned on her face and she quietly walked across the hall into her brother's room. Danny was tossing and turning in his sleep, moaning. Every so often he would float up off of the bed in his agitation. The temperature was ice cold, and several small knick knacks were hovering in the air.

"Danny." She whispered quietly, rushing over and easing her brother down onto his bed, gently gripping his hand. Taking her other hand up from her side, she carefully placed its contents in his arms. It was the Phantom plushy she'd bought at the Amusement Park, after Danielle had first entered their lives. She'd never used it herself; even in her own rare insecure moments, she only ever used her old stuffed bear. But Danny clung to the small thing for dear life, unconsciously seeming to beg for Phantom to save him from his bad dreams. Jazz frowned sadly. He was always saving others, but who was supposed to save him?

"I will." She answered herself quietly. The older girl absently ran her free hand through his messy hair. Her brother was drenched in a cold sweat, shaking uncontrollably.

"Dani," he mumbled incoherently. "I won't…" His big sister could only sit there, holding his hand and ruffling his hair softly as he thrashed about under his covers in yet another night terror, desperately holding on to his stuffed protector, crying into his pillow. "I won't." He moaned. "Please." All of the floating objects abruptly dropped. His body jerked one last time, and fell limp. His breathing steadied, and the temperature slowly began to rise again. Jazz stood up and pulled the stuffed object from her brother's arms. He seemed to protest for a minute, then calmed back down, wrapping his arms around his pillow instead. Yawning slightly, Jazz added ten minutes to Danny's alarm and went back to bed.

Danny had been having nightmares like this off and on for months, but whatever trauma caused them, things only seemed to be getting worse. The interruption to normal, healthy sleep was starting to affect him. Jazz, too, for that matter, but if she could help her brother get through this, she was willing to miss some sleep. He never remembered the dream when awake, which made her think he was desperately repressing whatever it was. At first, she'd thought it was watching Dani melt before his eyes; that would give anyone nightmares. But he should have at least stopped having such terrible dreams by now. It had been over six months since Dan had been destroyed, but if anything, Danny was having _more_ nightmares. She just couldn't understand it. Lost in her own uncomfortable thoughts, Jazz settled back into bed to sleep. She didn't even notice that she was still holding the stuffed Phantom protectively against her chest.

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Danny seemed none the worse for wear the next morning as he changed places with Jazz in the bathroom. The older girl gave him a reassuring pat on the back and ignored his curious look as she untoweled her hair. Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she saw him unconsciously flinch when he turned towards the mirror. Lost in thought, she absently went downstairs to have some tea.

Danny for his part had been seriously freaked out by the random physical contact; he was going to have to watch Jazz for a while, she looked like she was losing sleep. After a discrete look over at his sister to check how she looked, he quickly grabbed some toast and took a seat.

"So, how'd the temperature thing go?" He asked casually. Jack beamed over at him excitedly.

"Great! At a higher temperature the shocks worked much better! The little chunks of…er… you, tried to solidify. They didn't quite manage, but it's a good sign!" Maddie smiled and kissed her husband of the forehead, slipping him another cup of coffee.

"Oh, Danny?" Her son looked up. Maddie frowned slightly. "I'm sorry to ask you this, but Damon called yesterday afternoon while you were out. He apologized for the short notice, but asked us if the next time we ran into Phantom, we could persuade him to attend the Police weapons commissioning this afternoon at two." Danny sank down, groaning. His mother smiled sympathetically. "I know its short notice, but this is the first time city police will carry standard ecto-weapons. He wants you there to talk ghost."

Danny just nodded to the table. "Whatever. Sam's grounded anyway, Val will probably show as the Red Huntress, and Tucker spent yesterday with me. I guess I can go." Jack nodded.

"Right. I'll tell D-man you're coming! Your mother and I will be there too. This is a big step for him, son. It took a long time to get funding for all these weapons, and having you there will help boost morale and give them an idea what to aim at." Danny stared at his dad for a second, who flushed, realizing what he'd said. "I don't mean _you_, I mean other ghosts." Jazz laughed slightly, and smiled at her brother.

"Want a ride to school?" Her brother seemed taken aback by the offer for a moment, and then nodded hesitantly.

"Uh, sure." Jazz hadn't offered him a ride for a while. Something was definitely up, and it was probably best to get it over with quickly. Grabbing his bag, Danny let his sister lead him out to the car. Turning the ignition, his sister looked around and pulled out.

"So…nice weather huh?" Danny raised an eyebrow. Even if he hadn't been working with Clockwork for months to improve his understanding of others, Jazz was being painfully obvious. Something was wrong.

"Yeah, it is." He said casually. "But that's not why you asked to give me a ride. What's up?" Jazz frowned, apparently having an intense internal debate, then sighed, her eyes firmly on the road.

"I'm worried about you Danny. You had some sort of nightmare last night. I heard you yelling from down the hall." Her brother shot her an incredulous look. "I guess you don't remember it, but I heard you talking in your sleep. Something's bothering you, a lot. Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?"

A brief flash of a blue, clawed hand dripping blood flashed through his head, but quickly vanished, leaving no trace. "Nope, not a clue. Are you sure I'm having bad dreams? Talking in my sleep might mean anything." His sister shook her head, shuddering.

"No, I'm sure. You seemed so…afraid. And you're starting to get tired during the day. Whatever you're dreaming, it's not like normal sleep. You aren't dealing with whatever caused it when you're awake, and I think this might get worse. Just," she paused, "just remember I'm here for you if you _do_ figure out what you're dreaming, okay?" Her brother nodded with a small smile. She returned it as they pulled into the school lot.

With that, the two siblings walked into the school and headed towards their respective classes. It was going to be a long day.

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Danny transformed into his ghost form within seconds of getting out of class. Crouched cautiously in the bathroom stall, he closed his eyes in concentration, focusing his mind on the air over the local police station. A sharp pain shot through his head, and he fell back onto the toilet seat, wincing.

"Ah!" He grabbed his aching head, blinking the spots from his eyes. Suspicious, he looked closely at the exposed bathroom all behind him. It seemed to have a thin coat of new paint on it, with an occasional fleck of gold glittering on the surface. "Ethren. Great. You'd think they'd just coat the locker rooms." Danny muttered to himself. Turning invisible, he shoved open the bathroom door and phased through any random students to get to the outside doors. Shaking off the various emotions and memories he'd accidentally picked up on the way; the ghost boy broke out into the open and tried again. Seconds later he popped back into the visible world above the police station, lightly touching down and pushing in the front doors. Damon was waiting for him in the front lobby, smiling next to his red-suited daughter.

"Mr. Gray. Red." Phantom said good-naturedly. He might know it was Valerie, but one never knew who was listening. The two nodded at him, Gray smiling.

"Phantom. I'm glad you could come. Sorry about the short notice, but I thought you could use some good publicity, and maybe publicly state that certain…current news articles are not entirely accurate." Valerie nodded irritably.

"Yeah, like the ones that say we're dating. Not that I don't like you Phantom, but I'm not into dead people." Danny winced slightly at that. Valerie's eyes widened when she realized what she'd just said. "Sorry. No offense. You really are a great guy." Sighing, the ghost boy shrugged good-naturedly.

"It's no big deal. Besides, _I _need to clear my name as some sort of invisible pervert. Who writes that stuff anyway?" Damon shook his head in response.

"We don't know. The finished copy is sent to the printers from an anonymous source." He shot a glance down at his daughter. "And that might be a good thing." Danny nodded slightly after getting a look at Val's eyes. He'd been on her bad side long enough to know that that look meant death. Checking his watch, Damon waved for the two teens to follow him and headed into the large private meeting hall towards the back of the station.

"The Fentons developed a new material that's completely phase-proof." He said conversationally. "They say you helped." Danny gulped slightly.

"I…might have given them an idea or two on how to make it. It doesn't really keep you much safer if a ghost is willing to just blow your wall up, but it should kill all of those invisible peeping ghost rumors that are floating around." Valerie raised an eyebrow and gave him a sideways look as they stood behind a podium at the front of the long hall, a display of gleaming new weapons and Fenton Thermoses on their right, under the guard of Jack and Maddie Fenton.

"Where _do_ you go all the time anyway?" She whispered. Danny shrugged slightly and looked over at the girl.

"The Fentons' house or the Ghost Zone." He whispered back. "Ghosts need energy to keep going, and I either get mine from resting in my lair, or terrorizing humans. Doesn't give me many options." Valerie thought about it as her father gave the police a long speech about 'the way of the future' and 'civil responsibility.'

"Hey, how come you put this side's door to your lair in Danny's bedroom closet? Aren't there better places in that house?" Danny flushed slightly, his mind working as fast as it could.

"Um…he knew I was on your side for a long time, and he knew I needed to have a door, so he let me hide it in his room. I can't really move it now. Hehe…" Danny turned his gaze back towards the crowd as Valerie narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. Damon abruptly cut off his speech.

"And now to say a few words, Amity Park's own Phantom!" Danny suddenly felt two hands grip his shoulders and push him forward. A few flashes hit him in the face from the sides of the room as the local reporters snapped off shots and pulled out notepads. Gulping, Danny felt himself briefly go invisible. Counting to five, he slowly returned to the visible world.

"Er, sorry about that. Not too big on crowds." There was some scattered laughter throughout the room, then nothing. "Well, I guess I just want to say thanks for carrying these new weapons. They work on ghosts like regular weapons work on humans. Just know that ghosts are made of some pretty tough stuff, so we're not hurt easily. It'll take a lot of damage to bring down a ghost if you find yourself facing one alone, so you should probably go after them in groups, or wait for me or the Red Huntress to come help out. I think that's about all I have to say about the new weapons. Did, uh, did any of you have any questions?" Half the room erupted into chaos for a few seconds, and Danny looked on bemusedly. Still, he supposed that after six months of no public appearances of any kind, people would want to know something. Visibly bracing himself, he turned to the once again calm crowd and waited for them to sort out an order. Eventually, a gentleman in the front row stood up.

"Yes, eh, Phantom. I'm lieutenant Patson, I usually handle the night divisions, when ghost activity is up. Is there anything you can do to keep the ghosts out? I think you said something about that in your last, uh, interview." Danny sighed up on the podium, annoyed with himself yet again for saying that.

"To be honest, I wish I hadn't said anything." He said irritably. "Ghost law says I 'own' this town," he said, using air quotes when appropriate, "so other ghosts aren't allowed in uninvited. Unfortunately, anyone who lives here can make the invitation, and some nut out there apparently likes ghosts. So no, besides fighting them and asking people not to invite them here, I can't do anything to keep them out. Sorry." Nodding, the gentleman retook his seat, and visibly deferred the floor to a man a few seats to his left.

"Phantom, how much safer do you think this new 'Ethren' material the Fentons told us about will make the city? Is it worth mass production or is it a comfort blanket?" Danny raised an eyebrow, impressed with the question if unsure how to answer.

"Well, they know more about it than I do; they make the stuff. But I know from a ghost's perspective that it doesn't do much to stop us. If a violent ghost wants to get into an Ethren coated room, he'll just break the wall down. But it _does_ stop ghosts from just phasing through the walls and floors of a room" Danny winced "or teleporting, so they can't use sneak attacks. Is it worth it?" Danny shrugged. "I don't know. I'll leave that up to you. But I will tell you that you don't have to use it to keep me out. No matter what that Spook paper said, I don't spy on people when I'm not on patrol. I'm either at the Fentons' helping them with their work or resting in the Ghost Zone. Just wanted to clear my name."

This man also retook his seat, unsure about the answer but convinced the young ghost had said all he could on the subject. A young woman in the back stood up and locked gazes with Phantom.

"Anne Hoss, first officer. How effective are these weapons?" The ghost boy frowned at that, and shot his parents a look.

"Didn't the Fentons cover that already?" The woman shook her head. Danny sighed.

"It would depend on the ghost. The less energy a ghost has the less stable their form is. If they're not completely together, they won't heal as quickly and the weapons will probably do more damage. Also, some ghosts can create shields or use other powers to defend themselves. You'll just have to hope for the best with each new ghost. But these weapons are probably fairly effective." Jack and Maddie nodded enthusiastically.

"They're the best we've designed yet. A single ecto-gun of this power is a significant threat to any ghost up to about class 5. Higher than that and you'll need more weapons. A small squad could probably hold off a class 7 until reinforcements arrived." Danny nodded in approval, but Anne seemed confused.

"Class? What are you talking about?" Danny sighed and turned towards his parents slightly desperately. The two just shrugged. Apparently he was supposed to know more about ghosts since he was one. But this was going in a bad direction, fast.

"Well, the Guys in White, the government's official ghost hunting division, developed a class system to rate the power of a ghost based on how much energy they could use at any one time. The scale goes from one up, and going up by one increases the threat ten times. So a class two ghost is ten times as powerful as a class one, and a class three is ten times as powerful as a class two. Most ghosts below a class four aren't really much of a threat; the Box ghost is a 2.5 or something, barely enough energy for a form and box control powers. But some ghosts are very powerful. If these weapons can hold a class 7, they're pretty good, so you shouldn't have too much to worry about."

"What class are you?" Came the inevitable question from some random cop in the back. Danny closed his eyes, slightly nervous about saying. Even though he new where things were going, he'd hoped this wouldn't happen.

"Uh, I'm a…7.5. Or almost, anyway." The crowd was fairly silent at that. "But I'm on your side, so don't worry about it too much." Slightly pale, the woman who'd brought the topic up tentatively voiced her next question.

"Er, what's the most powerful ghost you know of? That might attack, I mean." Danny swallowed slightly, and turned towards the young woman.

"Pariah Dark, the ghost king. He's the one that sucked the entire town into the Ghost Zone a year ago. He's around a 9, I think. I was just under 7 then, and I needed that Fenton Suit that increases the wearer's power 100 fold to beat him, so I think that's right." He scratched his neck slightly. "Is it?" A few people nodded, as Valerie shot him a second odd look.

"What will those weapons do to a ghost as powerful as you?" Danny shrugged, looking slightly uncomfortable, uncertain how to answer. Finally, he settled for the easiest way and turned towards his parents.

"Shoot me."

"What?" Both hunters' eyes bugged slightly.

"Just do it, please." He said irritably. Finally with a great deal of reluctance, Jack aimed the ecto-weapon at his son and fired. He'd aimed to get a glancing blow on the arm, but Danny quickly shifted to catch it on the side of his face. Wincing at the pain, he turned back towards the shocked officers, the burned skin on his face already rippling and flowing back together.

"That much." He said simply. "It hurts, but I'll live. If you run into anything above a class 7, wait for me and the huntress, or get a tank." The others stared at him blankly as his face finished knitting itself back together. He shifted uncomfortably.

"Look, I think I've said enough. I'll let Red and the Fentons take it from here." Danny abruptly turned invisible and walked out through the doors. The police might question the value of Ethren, but he didn't doubt someone had coated this place with it anyway. After all, what good was a jail where a potential convict could walk through the walls? Rubbing his head at the unexpected math question, Danny took off and headed for home. Judging by the sun it was at least five o'clock.

Stepping inside, he walked tiredly into the kitchen for a quick microwave dinner.

And ran right into his sister. Face completely still, she thrust out her hand, holding the dreaded metal thermos. "Drink it." Danny took an involuntary step back, eyes locked in terror at the horrible gunk.

"Why? I drank that junk three times yesterday!" Jazz just narrowed her eyes.

"Mom and Dad both noticed how tired you've been lately. I think it's just the sleep, but this might help too. It can't hurt anyway. So drink it." Knowing any pleas would fall on deaf ears, Danny took the canister with a quiet whimper and gagged it down. Finally his sister's look turned sympathetic, and she held out a glass of water as a peace offering. He immediately chugged the water, gargling to see if it would help.

"Look, I know you don't know what your dreams are about, but please…whatever it is, let me help you work it out when you know. Okay?" Danny nodded and went upstairs to do his homework. Jazz just sat downstairs, deep in thought.

"Mirrors?"


	3. Appearances

Hello all.

To those of you expecting this sooner (most of you) I must extend a heartfelt apology. I was away from my computer all weekend, and returned to find myself stumped on how to fix this chapter. It came out with angst up the...well, there was a lot of it. Still is, but I've managed to tone it down. To be honest, this has to be a reasonably heavy chapter since some of Danny's issues come to light. I'm not trying to make him out to be some neurotic freak. Just bare in mind that his evil future self did destroy a lot of stuff and indirectly cause Dani's...er...conidtion. So this is something I'm sure you can understand him going through. I intend to get him through it as quickly as is logically possible (I don't want this to be a really angst-heavy story, it would be stale and depressing if I wrote it that way.) but he'll need some time.

Eternal love and glory to my reviewers: The Fluff Ghost, hermie-the-frog, Horselvr4evr123, Meagainsttheworld, Sasia93, Diamond Raider, Epona Harper, Ghost-Girl1591, xheartkreuzx, Pieling, SevenStar, Fanfictionist, Tornada Silverwind, BarnOwl93, ShiroAndFubuki, DP fan, Queen S of Randomness 016, zizzy333, and Chaos Dragon.

That said, here is chapter 3, wherein the plot thickens a bit and Danny learns more about why he can't sleep.

Ta!

HiddenAuthor

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Chapter 3 – Appearances

_Johnny Thirteen was screaming, crying, begging for mercy. Over in the corner, Kitty was sitting in a fetal position, rocking back and forth with dead eyes. A dark, laughing figure reached out his arms and snapped the young man's arm with a quick, vicious jerk. A shriek split the air, and Kitty whimpered quietly to herself, tears falling into her lap. His other arm soon followed. Then both legs. By this time Kitty had stopped crying. It was almost as if she couldn't even hear the cries of pain anymore. A hidden grin bringing a manic light to his eyes, the shadowy figure grabbed Johnny with both arms and brought him down over one knee. A loud _crack_ filled the void around them, but no scream followed. Johnny was out cold, twitching his broken arms feebly in pain. His legs did not move. Laughing, the cold tormentor flew up and prepared to dive down and shatter what was left of the poor boy's spine. The shifting light of the strange realm finally cast light on his cruel face._

_It was Danny._

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The alarm sounded in the quiet, still bedroom, its shrill call created to wake even the most stubborn sleeper. But Danny was not asleep. He'd woken in a cold sweat an hour ago, too afraid to sleep but unable to remember why. Rubbing his red, baggy eyes, he had caught his image in his dressing mirror and hadn't looked away until the alarm sounded. Something about the shadowed reflection in that glass bothered him a great deal, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Groaning as his exhausted body protested the sudden motion; the ghost boy rolled to his side off the bed and hit the alarm button. On the bright side, he was too tired to be mad at the clock, so it wasn't in danger of melting today. Too exhausted to stand in the hall waiting for the shower, he trudged back and fell onto the bed, his head in his hands.

"What's wrong with me?" He asked himself miserably. What could be so horrible that he'd wake up in the morning scared to death, but couldn't remember why? And why did he hate his mirror so much?

Some time later, there was a quiet knock on his door. After a few seconds, Jazz eased the door open and looked at her brother on his bed.

"Danny? I thought you might be sleeping. Just wanted you to know that the shower's free." Danny didn't look up. Frowning, the older girl came over and sat down. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know." He groaned tiredly into his hands. "I woke up an hour ago, too freaked out to go back to sleep, but I have no idea what I was dreaming about." Gently patting his back, Jazz settled into the bed to try and sort this out.

"Does this have to do with our talk yesterday?" She asked nervously. She'd felt the time had come to clue Danny in on his nightmares, but what if that had made them worse? To the girl's intense relief, her brother shook his head slowly.

"I don't think so. After I woke up, I couldn't do anything. I just stared at the mirror for an hour." He shrugged. "Maybe I'm having nightmares about a giant mirror monster or something. With all the ghosts I fight, it could be anything." Jazz frowned more deeply at this, other memories and suspicions resurfacing in her mind. "I just want to sleep."

"Danny," she asked, curious, "what about the mirror did you stare at? I mean, did you stare at the frame, or the whole thing, or…" Her brother quirked an eyebrow.

"The reflection. Why else do you look at a mirror? Not that I could see much in there, since it was still dark. Why?" Trying to keep her voice steady, his sister calmly gripped his shoulders and pressured him to turn.

"Why not look now. Maybe you'll figure it out if you can see."

Shooting his sister an odd look, the ghost boy turned and gazed half-interested at the mirror. A second later he seemed to flinch away, almost unintentionally. Praying she was doing the right thing, Jazz grabbed her brother's head by the sides and forcibly turned it to lock gazes with his reflection. Caught by surprise, the half ghost froze, staring into his dressing mirror, eyes going wide.

Green lines of energy branched out from the mirror's center, and the entire thing shattered. Danny just sat there in motionless silence, shaking. Gripping his head again and ignoring a slight burn from some wild ghost energy, Jazz turned his head once again to lock eyes with him, eyebrows pointed down in confusion and worry.

"What? What did you see?" Looking a big shocked at what happened to the glass; he looked back at his sister, equally confused.

"Me."

Jazz paused, a glimmer of understanding in her eyes as her worst suspicions were realized. "Danny…" But Danny had vanished.

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"Beware! For I am the Box Ghost!" Screamed the fleeing bibbed creature. Spying a pile of heavy crates, he hastily used his power to shove them out of the loading docks of a downtown warehouse and into the road. A large silver RV with green lettering swerved quickly to avoid the blockade and returned fire, roof mounted ecto-guns sending blinding green shafts of light at the annoying ghost.

Annoying _and_ destructive, if the sounds of squealing tires and crashes behind the hunting couple could be believed. Jack grumbled as he fired off a second volley.

"I know Danny doesn't usually fight ghosts during school hours anymore, but sometimes I almost wish he would, there are just so many of them!" Maddie frowned at her husband's statement from the front passenger's seat, pulling out a radio phone.

"Don't think like that Jack." She berated gently, and then frowned deeply. "Especially not today. Jazz told me he just vanished from right in front of her, and that I needed to call in a sick day. From what she said, he's having 'identity issues' or something. I wish she hadn't gotten so good at talking in code." She sighed. "I can't tell if she meant he was having trouble keeping his secret or if he's going through a regular teen thing…if he ever goes through a regular teen thing." She mumbled. Trying to turn her frustration into something constructive, she sent a particularly vicious blast towards the Box Ghost, smiling with dark pleasure as he yelled out in pain and quickened pace.

"That 'I went through the same thing' excuse doesn't really work with him, huh?" Jack asked, only half joking. Truth be told, he was really worried about Danny. He remembered the look on his son's face when the crowd reacted to his power rating yesterday. They'd been _afraid_. He couldn't begin to imagine what it felt like to be feared even by the people who cared about you. Heck, even _he_ was occasionally scared by what Danny could do. But somehow, he didn't think that was what his current mood was about.

Never able to brood long, Jack inevitably popped out of his brief funk and grinned as his wife scored another good hit. Smiling back with a dangerous flash in her eyes, Maddie flipped the phone open and hit speed dial.

"Damon. Yeah, it's Maddie. Look, did you manage to get any of the anti-ghost weaponry installed on tower seven? Yes, I know you're behind schedule and under funded. Yes, I know you only got them in last week. Really?" She grinned. "Make sure you thank Tucker for me. I had no idea he and Valerie considered setting up an anti-ghost death machine dating. Anyway, Jack and I have the box ghost on the run, but you _know_ how hard it is to get him into the thermos. Could you activate the tower for just a second? We're approaching it now, and it would probably catch him off-guard." Eventually she nodded. "Thanks Damon." Quickly hanging up, she returned her attention to their fleeing foe with a feral smile.

"Gray's going to give us a demo of his nice new tower." Jack's grin broadened.

"You shall not catch me! Tremble puny humans for I am the Bo-Ahhhhh!" Several dozen blue beams converged from the skeletal tower precisely onto the poor ghost. Lights abruptly snapping off, the spook fell limply from the sky and lay still on the ground. Whistling, Jack stepped out and pulled the unconscious spirit into a fresh thermos as the tower whirred back into inactivity. The couple smiled at it appreciatively.

"Just think Jack." Maddie said wonderingly. "Someday the entire city will be surrounded by a ring of finished towers, a near-indestructible shield at our beck and call. And those weapons! Did you see them all focus to converge precisely where they would do the most damage? It was amazing!" Jack nodded, frowning slightly.

"Of course, pretty soon Danny will be trapped inside the city. He'd be turned into a smoking crater if he tried to leave." Visibly paling, his wife nodded, going over to wrap an arm around him.

"Don't worry, Jack. We'll think of something. I'm sure Damon and Valerie would keep Danny's secret, and find some way to keep him safe. I just wish Danny thought so too. Let's hope he tells them before the towers are finished."

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Danny floated aimlessly through the swirling green of the Ghost Zone, invisible. He wasn't entirely sure how he'd gotten here; he'd been sitting in his room, wanting to just fall right out of the world for a while, and suddenly everything went green. He had felt fatigued right afterwards, so he supposed he must have done it somehow. Since he didn't plan on showing himself and could float through things better this way, he'd remained human. As such it was slightly harder to float, but he'd come to decide it was worth it. He didn't _want_ to be a ghost right now. Looking around, his guilt returned tenfold as he caught the occasional glimpse of the devastation his evil self had unleashed upon the unsuspecting ghosts. Eventually, his aimless course directed him towards a garish pink and blue door. Light guitar music floated out through it, making the ghost boy pause. He was almost sure this was Ember's place, but that didn't sound much like Ember's music. Curious, he allowed himself to fall through the door and found himself in a large auditorium. The former singing ghost was sitting on a simple black stool on stage, blowing green bubblegum and idly picking the slow, calm tune out on her guitar. Coming to rest nearby, Danny let his invisibility go.

"Danny." He paused for a moment at that, surprised that she'd used his first name. Another green bubble popped loudly.

"They may say that dead men tell no tales, kid, but you shouldn't encourage the lie." She said idly, setting down guitar and pick and picking a small notepad up off of her lap. Danny still said nothing.

"A recent friend of mine once said that expression is good for the soul." She pressed conversationally, floating up in an Indian position in front of the dejected intruder. "Come on, spill it. It's not like I can charm it out of you." Danny winced a bit at that. Ember frowned.

"Do you hate me?" He asked finally. The blue-haired girl cocked her head to one side, studying him. He didn't seem depressed or angry, merely curious and maybe a bit confused. With a half-smile, she shrugged.

"Well I think your spandex suit is tacky, I think your witty banter is cheesy, and I think your plan on visiting the Ghost Zone as a human is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. But hate you?" She chuckled. "Baby pop, you _saved_ me. That evil monster destroyed my voice, and you-"

"I _am_ that evil monster." He said, eyes flashing green slightly as he fell back onto the stage. "Don't you remember everything? He was telling the truth, Ember. He was me from the future, and he did all of those horrible things. _I_ did all of those things. Your voice, your powers, all of those other ghosts." He gulped. "You'll never sing again. How can you not hate me?"

The blue-haired ghost remained silent for several minutes, studying him. Finally, she came back down into a standing position, quirking an eyebrow in amusement as she looked up to see his face. Apparently she should visit more often, but ghosts usually don't change so fast. Humans were different.

"You told me about that once before, and I didn't forget. But you're right about one thing." She said softly. "I'll never sing again. I tried every day for months after it happened, thinking if I just gave it more time…" She sighed. "But I've made my peace with that. Sure, I was mad. Furious even. For a long time. But ghosts have a long time to brood, kid, so it's a bad habit to get into. After a while I just got bored with the whole 'anger' thing, and decided to just get over myself. I miss singing a lot, but there's more to me than that. I still have my music, or at least my guitar. And I've learned to do other things with my voice." Blushing slightly, she pushed her notebook into his hand. Startled, he looked down in surprise and opened it, reading quietly.

"Poetry?" She nodded shyly.

"Ghost Writer's been teaching me. He says there's not much difference between a good poem and a song. If the words are beautiful enough, they don't _need_ music. It's a lot like writing lyrics, but I'm still not nearly as good as he is." She said a touch wistfully as her mind turned towards the aloof artist. As Danny read, she absently blew some more green bubbles.

"These are amazing." He said at last, with a ghost of a smile. "But it doesn't change the fact that that evil creature was me. Or at least formerly would have eventually become me." He scratched his head. "Never let Clockwork tell you about time." Ember chuckled, and the ghost boy's smile flashed up again briefly, before dying. "I can't even look in a mirror anymore without seeing more and more of him in me. Every day there's a little more there. I didn't really think about it before today."

Ember looked back up from her work and eyed him critically, briefly going up on tiptoes for an extreme close-up. He backed up a step, blinking, surprised at the scrutiny. Finally, she opened her mouth.

And blew another bubble. "I don't see it." She said finally. Danny opened his mouth to object. "Well duh, kid, you look more like him." She said in exasperation. "If he's you from the future, you're going to keep looking more like him every day until you can't tell the difference. That's just how these things work. Although," she said, with a light laugh, "you should do yourself a favor and avoid the freakishly huge look. You might have to be that tall eventually, but the ape-arms routine was just a little over-the-top." She chuckled briefly in victory at coaxing a small blush out of her human friend, then resumed the serious talk.

"What I mean is, I don't see it on the _inside_. You're gonna look like him kid, maybe even sound like him a bit, and you should make your peace with that. But that doesn't mean you're gonna _be_ him." She shook her head. "You keep trying not to judge a book by the cover, forgiving that Valerie girl for trying to kill you, letting Dani back into your life." He raised an eyebrow. "We talked. You don't judge people, kid." She grimaced, blowing another large bubble. "Shouldn't you give yourself the same chance? I mean, it's not like you _want_ to turn into an evil super-destructive monster, right?" Danny shook his head quickly.

"Good." She grinned. "Then that shouldn't be a problem. So no, I don't hate you, Danny. You annoy the heck out of me, but I don't hate you." Danny smiled over at her.

"You know, you sounded a lot like Jazz for a second there." He said absently. "You into all that psycho-babble too?" The girl grimaced.

"Ick. No way, kid. That stuff is _boring_. I just tell it like I see it." She shrugged. "Comes with being a 'rock star' I guess. We don't say sorry. But hey, if you want advice, I'll tell you what helps me." She looked down. "My guitar. Playing it helps me cope. Even when I'm not using it to take over the earth." She laughed lightly and looked up toward her friend. "Maybe you should find a hobby, kid. Something you can do as a ghost besides blasting stuff. It's been good for me. Maybe it would be good for you, too."

A thoughtful look flashing across his face, Danny nodded and vanished. Sad, slow guitar music filled the room.

Ember picked absently at the strings, smiling at her notebook. He'd liked her poetry. She wasn't about to let a damaged voice ruin her afterlife. Standing, the former singer grabbed her poems and took off for Ghost-Writer's. She might be improving, but the talented artist still had a lot to teach her. Besides, he was kinda cute…

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Deep in the depths of a completely bland and uninteresting generic government building, down an evenly lighted hallway painted that incredibly annoying nondescript off-white color, two high ranking Guys in White officers sat in a small cubicle, viewing and reviewing a piece of footage.

"_I'm a 7.5. Or almost anyway."_

The gentleman on the right turned towards his coworker with a dark look on his face.

"Has this claim been verified?" Eyes not leaving the screen, his partner nodded slowly.

"Labs is still confused about how that could be possible. As soon as the subject made the statement, we sent in a discreet ops group to obtain independent verification. We used five individually calibrated meters. 'Phantom' has a reading of 7.48. According to our own data, he should have only about half that much power." Hearing this, the first officer paled visibly.

"And this is the ghost that compromised the old officers on his case?" Inarticulate screaming echoed from another wing of the complex. The man winced. "And I hear that they're still trying to 'fix' them." The second nodded.

"When that 'Freakshow' guy was returned to custody. The cameras all got knocked out, but the backup files on the computer logged a massive spike in ecto-energy. We must infer that 'Phantom' has access to some incredible form of power boosting. The original reading almost melted the meters, but that's obviously impossible. Whatever he did to those officers, they were rendered completely unable to pursue Phantom's case. Almost all records involving Mr. Showenhower, his research, and Phantom were irreparably corrupted. We don't even know what we were doing with Freakshow before he escaped, or how Phantom got a hold of him." The man shuddered. "I've been tracking ghosts half my life, but this kid…there's something, I don't know, 'spooky' about him." The first officer sat up from his seat, shutting off the video as Phantom's face began to heal from a class five ectoblast almost instantly.

"Well he's our problem now. Those two compromised officers cost us almost a year of hunting following false trails. Whatever that kid did to them, it messed them up good. I was hoping to sneak up on this one, but if he's that dangerous, we'll need to step up and really get to work." Nodding again in agreement, the second man got up. With long-practiced movements, the two hunters drew their hands across their chests and reached into their left jacket pockets and whipped out…sunglasses. Flicking them open, they flipped the frames up over their eyes and headed out. They had work to do.

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"Hello?" Danny asked groggily as the hall phone jerked him from a very welcome afternoon nap. "Fenton Works. Friendly call or impending doom?"

"Danny?" His eyes widened slightly.

"Val! Er, hi. What's up?" There was a slight pause.

"Um, nothing! Just, uh, calling to remind you guys it's Phantom's turn to do the night patrol. Let him know for me?" Danny grimaced slightly.

"Sure thing." He said, pouring on the cheer. "Was that it?" Longer pause.

"No." She said finally. "I'd like to talk with Phantom a bit. Alone." Danny gulped slightly.

"Uh, could I ask why?" He said, trying to sound unconcerned.

"I just need to talk to him about some stuff. Could he come to my apartment at six?" Danny looked over at the clock. It was 3:30.

"I don't know, I'll ask. If he can, he'll probably be early."

"Thanks. See you later." Danny's eyes bugged slightly.

"Huh?" He practically yelped into the phone. Valerie paused on the other end.

"See you later." She repeated slowly. "You do plan on being at school tomorrow right? Jazz told me you were sick." The ghost boy desperately tried to calm his breathing. Jazz must have covered for him when he pulled that Houdini trick that morning.

"Uh, yeah. I was. But I'm feeling much better now."

"Good. Bye, Danny."

"Bye."

Face pale, Danny hung up, trying to calm the shaking in his hands. Spending the next few hours doing make-up homework and fending off a seriously freaked-out Jazz, he left invisibly at 5:30 and was at Valerie's in ten minutes. The huntress was already there, out of uniform. Phantom raised an eyebrow.

"I take it this isn't a business call." Valerie just looked at him for a moment, then sat down.

"No. How tall are you?" She asked suddenly. Danny paused, taken aback by the odd question.

"Uhh…I don't know. My body's pretty flexible." He said, scratching his neck nervously. Valerie watched his hand with an unreadable expression.

"That's not an answer." The ghost boy winced slightly, sitting down opposite the huntress, who hadn't taken her eyes off of him.

"Maybe…five eleven?" He half asked. Valerie just nodded, as though that was the answer she expected.

"I think I've got you figured out." She said calmly. Danny paled slightly, looking at her. "It's obvious. You and Danny look the same, act the same, sound the same, age the same way, you appeared for the first time only a few weeks after that accident he got into, and you're lair opens in Danny's bedroom." The ghost boy was shaking slightly now.

"You're a ghost copy the portal made of Danny when he had his accident!"

"I can expl – what?"


	4. Barriers

Okay, after about a week of pushing this story as hard as I dared and battled valiently against the evil Writer's Block monster, I have emerged victorious! (For a general concept of the battle, I recommend the poem "Jabberwocky.") So here at long last is chapter 4, and the story is once again moving the way I want it to! Ha Ha!

O.O Wow. Ummm...(DEEEEP Breath) Thanks to: Arabic Blessing, ShiroAndFubuki, BarnOwl93, cordia, nathow111, xheartkreuzx, Queen S of Randomness 016, Tornada Silverwind, Harm Marie, DP fan, Horselvr4evr123, Chaos Dragon, AirGirl Phantom, Meagainsttheworld, The Fluff Ghost, Epona Harper, Rakahn, Funkatron, Diamond Raider, and Pieling. I think that's all of you. My e-mail is not getting reviews again, so I've had to use this site, which is a bit...meh. If you haven't recieved a response, please accept this slightly more generic but every bit as sincere love and gratitude. I hope to hear from you all again!

Right, well here is the fourth chapter, wherein there are many funny misconceptions, confessions, and general "WHAT" moments.

Much love,

HiddenAuthor

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Chapter 4 – Barriers

Valerie nodded at the stunned ghost boy smugly. "You shouldn't seem so surprised, Phantom. It's really obvious when you think about it. Ghosts are born from the energy-stuff of the Ghost Zone all the time, and Danny's pain when the accident happened was probably powerful enough to create you seconds after the portal opened. That's why he knew you first, that's why you two seem so much alike, and that's why you live in his closet." She leaned back, daring him to deny the truth.

"Oh wow." He said, sitting back and rubbing his head. "This just got really weird." Valerie raised an eyebrow. "Uh, why exactly do you think I'm a copy of Danny again?" The other girl shrugged.

"You look like him, and you sound like him. And he _did_ have that weird accident with the ghost portal. I remember because Mr. Lancer gave some big speech on irresponsible lab safety a few days later, and wouldn't stop talking about him." Danny rolled his eyes. "And later on, Danny would always spazz out and disappear whenever a ghost attacked, and you'd show up a few seconds later. What, was he calling you or something?" The ghost boy stuttered a bit at the awkward question.

Then coughed as his cobbled explanation turned into a light blue mist.

"Um, hold that thought." He said nervously, and flew back out into the night. Then froze in midair at the sight before him. Floating above the shadowed street was a large metal spirit on jet wings, glaring viciously at his quarry.

"Greetings, ghost child." Skulker growled. "Do you like it? We call ourselves Skulktech 1.0." Danny blinked a moment, and took in Technus leering from the front body plate.

"Oh boy." He moaned, floating in midair. "Serious Déjà vu." His fused opponent raised two sets of eyebrows.

"What are you talking about child? We have never appeared before you like this." Skulker stated, confused. Suddenly, twin cables shot out and wrapped him tightly in its grip. Danny's midsection began to contract far more than was safe for a human. Despite his best efforts, the ghost boy could neither phase through the lines nor break their hold.

"No matter!" Technus called out. "You shall pay for your insolence, Phantom. You're finished!" Laughing, the technology spirit sent high volts of energy through his cable-like arms.

"Ahhhh!" Shrieking in pain, Danny thrashed back and forth in the snakelike grip, half trying to break free and half spasming uncontrollably. Suddenly, screams and laugher were both cut short as a red and green disc flew through the air and sliced through the cables. Losing life immediately, the coils relaxed and slid off of Danny's stunned body to fall to the floor below. Coughing slightly, he righted himself in midair and flashed a grateful smile at the Red Huntress, who was making a second pass with her glider, trying to cut off more of the thrashing green tentacles.

"Got your back, Phantom!" Firing off a flurry of shots from her ecto-weapons, Valerie swooped back around behind Skulktech and sent off a blast to the back of his head. "Take that ghost!"

Howling in rage, Technus turned his shared body towards the annoyance while Skulker recovered in his control center. However, in doing so, he exposed his back to a very angry Phantom. His blast knocked the two part villain into the concrete below with enough force to make the surrounding roadwork ripple. Groaning, Skulktech turned and began trying to pull himself out of the smoking crater.

"Watch it!" Valerie called out as the two flew in to finish their dual opponent off. "It's stuff like that that gave you a bad name in the first place!" Danny turned to retort, but suddenly a stray cable shot out from the fallen creature and slammed him down into the crater beside him, pinning his exposed body firmly against the ground. Skulktech slowly climbed to his feet, casually blasting over his shoulder to knock Valerie backward off her jet board, which immediately altered course to catch its missing rider.

"Please, child. You were barely a threat to us when we weren't working together. Now?" The two laughed together. "You were never much of a ghost anyway. You or Masters. But maybe we can change that. Yes, lets make you all the ghost you can be."

Losing air, Danny let his memory fall back on that morning, and his accidental trip to the ghost zone. Focusing desperately, he let green energy flow out of him to envelop him and his foe. The world around them flickered momentarily, first showing the shadows and lights of the Amity Park street then the swirling green limbo of the Ghost Zone. But in the end, the two battling spirits found themselves right back in the concrete where they started. Danny groaned and begged his head to stop spinning. Judging by the wet sensation on his lip, he also had a nosebleed. The powerful spirit laughed throatily.

"Learn a new trick, ghost child?" The nasally voice of Technus filled the block. "Perhaps you should learn your limitations before you try something so foolish." The cable pressed down with greater force and constricted. If Danny had to have bones all of the time in this form, he'd have passed out from all of his ribs breaking. Fortunately, ghosts were a bit more flexible. Not that the flexibility helped much as Skulktech sent another wave of powerful current through his body. Phantom screamed.

"Phantom!" Came a loud call from several yards away. "I can't get to you! Something's blocking me!" Valerie flew back and forth above a shining blue dome. Skulker laughed.

"You didn't think I gave everything I stole from Axion to Plasmius, did you?" The hunter grinned viciously. "This shield will give us all the time we need to finish you off. Say goodbye, ghost child." As the terrible spirits readied a devastating finishing attack, Danny cast his eyes around desperately, hoping to see some way out through the haze of pain caused by the electric coils wound around his waist.

"Electric." He mumbled, eyes resting on a possible source of salvation. Only a yard or so to his side, an exposed water main was leaking into the rubble of the street. "The experiment. Ectoplasm can conduct electricity." As Skulker raised his hand high and revealed a gleaming purple blade, Danny reached across the distance, using the extra body material the squeezing coils provided and just managed to touch the growing pool of water. He had half a second to pray his parents were right before the electricity coursing through his body increased tenfold.

"Ahhh!" All three ghosts screamed together as a vast discharge of power rocketed out of Technus's coils through Danny's body and into the city water system, a natural ground. Over their heads, the blue dome began to flicker and die. Shouting in triumph, Valerie leveled her most potent weapons. Hybrids of her original suit's automation technology and the Fenton's superior weapons, her cannons shot twin beams of green and red into Skulktech's exposed back. The large ghost tumbled back down to the ruptured pavement, barely maintaining its hold on Danny.

"Power at fifteen percent! Weapons' efficiency decreasing." Technus warned loudly. With a grunt of pain, Skulker began pushing off the ground. Valerie swung around and prepared another volley.

"Phantom! Get out of there, I need a clear shot." But Danny was struggling in the severely dimmer coil, spasming under the charge and…laughing? "What's wrong with you, ghost? Get out of there!"

"I…haha…can't!" He called up as loudly as he could, gasping for breath. Screaming in rage and frustration, Valerie swooped down and activated her Fenton bazooka. The coil loosening as the large spirit tried to grip something nearby; Danny pushed himself out and blasted the creature into the temporary ghost portal. Still chuckling, the ghost boy landed on the ground nearby, swaying slightly back and forth and rubbing his aching sides. It was a testament to just how strong those cables where that he actually couldn't reform his usual shape for several seconds. Valerie landed and gave him an annoyed shove. In his uneven stance, he fell back a few steps but managed to keep standing.

"What's the matter with you, Phantom? Between the crater and that coil fiasco, you might have been siding with the ghost! And we still have a lot to talk about! How does Danny know you? What _are_ you, really?"

Phantom grinned, still swaying slightly, and chuckled. The ghost shot the confused huntress a narrow look, though there was still a small smile on his face.

"You know what your problem is?" He asked, words slightly slurred. "You're really uptight, Val." The girl gasped at him using her real name in public and quickly looked around. The alley seemed abandoned. "And I don't think I'll tell you what…what I am. You wouldn't like me." He continued, not even noticing her distress. "I'm a freak. A weirdo." Somehow he was still smiling, though he seemed a bit teary. "I want to be human, Val, I really do. I'm just not. Why does that have to be a bad thing?" Phantom ambled over, walking very carefully up to the bemused girl. Suddenly, he was giving her a hug. "I'm sorry that I can't tell you. But like you said, you're not into dead people. And I want to stay friends." With that, the ghost boy flew off, bobbing slightly in the air and holding his head as he headed towards the Fentons'. Valerie stared after him for a moment, then sat down on a nearby curb.

"I don't get it." She said to herself. "What did he mean? Phantom wants to be human? And what about that other ghost?" The girl shook her head, and remounted her jet sled. Scowling towards Fenton Works, Val started off on patrol. "I'll cover for you tonight, ghost. But you owe me." Thinking of all the ways she could ask him to repay her, information at the top of her list, the Red Huntress flew off into the shadowed streets of Amity Park.

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Danny phased through the uncoated outer wall of his bedroom and settled down on the bed. The room seemed to be spinning slightly, but it wasn't really bothering him for some reason. Still, he felt it _should_ have been bothering him, so he sat back for a few moments and took some slow, deep breaths until things settled down a bit. The second he changed back into human form, the world reasserted itself with an abrupt snap, and he fell back onto his bed, wincing.

"Ughh. What was that?" He mumbled, massaging his temples slowly and apparently futilely. He'd never felt so sick in his entire life. Looking back at what he'd said and done for the last few minutes, the only description he could come up with was blatant stupidity. It was almost like he'd been…

"Drunk." He spoke quietly to his ceiling, with a hollow laugh. "Duh. I should have remembered when that shock started tickling. Dad said low current makes ghosts drunk. Ow." Rolling his eyes, and then wincing at the slight ache that caused, the ghost boy made his way across his bedroom and headed towards the upstairs bathroom, trying not to look at any bright lights. After five minutes of agony looking around for whatever medicine he needed, he went downstairs and found his parents playing checkers in the living room.

"Uh, guys?" He said hesitantly, wincing as his mother shouted in victory. Both older Fentons turned towards their son, Jack sulking slightly, and shot him a questioning look.

"Danny, what's going on?" Maddie asked curiously. "I thought you were supposed to take a patrol tonight so Valerie could get some sleep." In truth the older woman would have liked it if neither of them had to do this as it interrupted normal sleep patterns and interfered with their lives, but since Phantom was supposed to be able to patrol whenever and Valerie wasn't about to be the weak link in their relationship, it just couldn't be helped. Danny plopped down on the sofa and looked blearily at his parents.

"I wasn't up to it." He said slowly. "Look, I'll explain everything in a sec. First, could you guys get me something? I don't know what I should take; I've never had a hangover before."

"WHAT?" Danny clapped his hands on his ears and moaned. "Daniel Fenton, You Have NOT Been Drinking!" His mother shouted. Blinking away the pain, Maddie's terrified son held up his hands as if to ward her off.

"No. No, no no. I got into a fight with, um, Technus. Sort of. He shocked me. I was out of it all the way home, and I guess changing my form took me straight from drunk to hung over. And it _hurts._" He rubbed his head again and shot her a pleading look. "Please, get me something to make the room hold still, and I'll tell you guys everything."

Jack nodded, remembering his earlier discovery, and went off to the kitchen to make some strong lukewarm tea with lemon. Maddie just sat with her son on the couch, quietly asking questions about the strange new two-part ghost and just how much Valerie might know.

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The next day, much to Lancer's visible displeasure, found Valerie snoring into her text book. Wincing under an accusing glare from Tucker, Danny gently nudged the girl in this side, finally managing to jolt her from sleep. With a grateful smile that stung worse than the glare, Val turned back towards her work and managed to stay awake enough to avoid detention. Mr. Lancer cleared his throat loudly to warn her she wasn't off the hook yet, and turned to address the class.

"Alright students, it is time to begin our section on journalism. To accustom you to the writing style we will explore, your first assignment is to write a reactionary piece on any locally written article. We will be working in groups of three. Please group up." Tucker and Sam immediately moved their desks closer together, but Lancer's hand stopped Danny mid-slide.

"Danny, you've been doing very well in this class so far. I was wondering if you'd do me a favor." Trying to keep a sour look off his face, Danny looked over at his teacher and nodded. "Good. I'd like you to team up with Miss Gray and Miss Sanchez. Miss Gray's work seems to be declining of late and Paulina…" The older man rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Let's just say she could use the help." Shooting his other friends an apologetic look, Danny moved over to join Valerie and watched impassively as Paulina shuffled over, looking squarely at her face to avoid her perfectly-too-small Phantom t-shirt. Healing powers aside, his ears still hurt from the last time Sam caught him looking at the gorgeous Hispanic.

"Alright you two, I'm sure we'll have lots of fun together. I even have an idea on what to write about!" She said in a cheerful tone, warning them with her eyes to obey on pain of death by jock. Still smiling, she pulled out a Spook paper. "This paper has been saying the most horrible things about Phantom." She said, pouting slightly. "I'd like to write a paper on how someone as cool and perfect as him would never fall for that awful huntress girl or that Goth geek Manson. I even have a ten page list on all the horrible things about them!"

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By the time the four of them were at their table, Valerie looked much more awake, even if the force behind her new energy was Paulina-induced rage.

"Why so down, Val?" Sam asked, confused. "I thought it was D-Phantom's turn to patrol last night." The girl shot her boyfriend a sideways look, which he refused to meet. Though she now had her answer, for the sake of security she turned expectantly towards her friend.

"It was." The exhausted teen answered shortly. "We fought this new ghost together. It looked like Skulker and Technus put together." Sam and Tucker looked very alarmed at this, but kept quiet. "After that, he acted kind of…different. He said some stuff, and left. I figured I should take the night. Still," she said, shooting Danny a triumphant if slightly predatory grin, "at least I figured out his secret." Sam immediately blanched and Tucker coughed on a half-swallowed French fry.

"Huh?" They both asked, looking back and forth between a very satisfied Valerie and a wide-eyed Danny.

"You know?" Sam asked breathlessly. Val nodded, smiling.

"It wasn't hard. Danny and Phantom look the same, sound the same, act the same, _and_ Phantom showed up after that accident. Way too much of a coincidence." Tucker had started grinning about halfway through.

"Well it is obvious I guess, but nobody's figured it out on their own before. Well, except Jazz." He said thoughtfully. "But this is great! You're really cool with it? I knew you would be! Man, I've been trying to get Danny to tell you for months!" Val cocked an eyebrow at that.

"That doesn't seem fair, Tucker." Her boyfriend shrugged. Danny kicked the floor right next to his leg and nervously pulled his foot back to try again without gaining attention.

"Well I guess I could have let him tell you when he was ready, but I was sick of leaving you out when we talk about stuff." Tucker grinned over and pulled his girlfriend into a sideways hug, inadvertently blocking Danny's shot.

"That's not what I meant." She said sternly. "It was Phantom's secret. Danny had no business telling me Phantom was made when the portal copied him." Tucker froze mid-endearment and pulled his hand off of her as if burned, face going through about five different shades.

"What?"

"What?"

"What what?" Val looked from Sam to Tucker, confused. Something had definitely shocked them. Danny hadn't said a word the entire time, and now seemed to be studying his shoes with a great deal of enthusiasm. The girl's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Fenton. You know something." Danny flinched slightly, but didn't look up. "Spill it! Why does Phantom want to be human so much? Why does he look like you? _What is he?_" The boy stood brusquely and pushed away from the table.

"I'm not feeling so great." He said shortly. "I'm going to the office." Without a word or second glance, he marched slowly towards the dish disposal area and left the cafeteria.

"Did he really say that?" Sam asked quietly. "That he wanted to be human?"

Valerie nodded slowly, shooting her distressed friend a strange glance. "Yeah. Why?" Sam didn't answer. With a sigh, Val grabbed Sam's hand. "Look. I can tell you like him. But Danny doesn't deserve this Sam. You need to decide who you want to be with. Otherwise you're going to hurt both of them." With that, Valerie walked off and headed towards the office to talk with Danny. Tucker just sat there for a second.

"Does she think Danny left because of you?" He asked incredulously. Sam nodded. After a few seconds of silence, the two friends cracked up. Finally, wiping a tear from his eye, Tucker grinned across the table at his friend. "Oh man. And you said _Danny_ was clueless. She thinks…and we…" Gasping again, he leaned back and let out a deep sigh. "That was really close." He said seriously. Sam nodded again, still silent. "You know, I think this is the part where _you_ say something."

"I asked him to tell her." Sam said finally. "I know I've said no for months now, and I know how mad you got at me, but I think you're right now. Val deserves to know. After all this time working with him, she deserves to know _all_ of who Danny really is. But I don't think Danny wants her to know." Tucker stared at her for a moment. "I think he's afraid to tell her. I don't know what happened last night, but he's scared now. He must have let something huge slip. She might not know yet, but whether he likes it or not, she'll know soon."

Somehow, even though he'd wanted it for months, Tucker couldn't bring himself to be happy about it.

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Danny had just been cleared to go home when he saw Valerie walking into the office. With a quick scan for witnesses, he turned invisible and walked out through her. He was five feet from the outside door when the floor opened up beneath him and he fell into a swirling green emptiness. As the hole closed above him, he quickly switched into his ghost form and turned to punch whatever had grabbed him.

"Calm yourself, Danny." Clockwork looked over at his friend soberly. Calming marginally, Danny allowed himself to relax and shot the ancient ghost a narrow look.

"Okay. You I trust, but anything that would make you pull me out of a school hallway in the middle of the day can't be good." His friend nodded with a brief smile.

"So you have benefited at least somewhat from the last few months." He said, heading off away from his castle. "Good. The future is about to become the present." Danny puzzled over that for a few minutes before it clicked.

"That future you've been talking about! It's happening?" Clockwork nodded solemnly.

"Yes. I cannot tell you anything Danny. I'm as bound by law here as always. But try and be strong. I have faith in you." Danny scowled over at him.

"Couldn't you…bend the rules? Just one time?"

"Now," Clockwork said hesitantly, "might not be the best time to do that."

The two wandered in silence for a long time until they came upon a familiar door. Danny drew up immediately, confusion and no small amount of fear flashing across his face.

"The Ghost Council chambers? Why are we here?" Clockwork didn't meet his gaze.

"We have a trial to attend." He said shortly, leading Danny into the large, dimly lit chambers. Four of the five councilors were the same, but the one in Clockwork's usual seat was new. Or perhaps old. Danny had no idea how this place usually worked. As the two doors closed loudly behind him, the ghost boy looked up nervously at the center ghost. Putting down his heavy old book, the ancient spirit looked back, eyes locked with Danny's.

"You are Danny Phantom, who in another timeline would have become the creature known to us as Dan Phantom, the being who destroyed much of our home?" Understanding dawning, Danny gulped and nodded.

"Yes. If you have to put me on trial, I'll do it. I didn't do those things, but I might have." The ghost blinked at that, and shot him a look of mixed confusion and approval.

"While your sense of responsibility is to be admired, Mr. Phantom, you are only a witness." Turning slowly, the spirit spoke again.

"Clockwork, spirit of Time. You stand accused of reckless endangerment of the entirety of the Ghost Zone, first by creating the time paradox which allowed for Dan Phantom to exist, and then by allowing his escape after he was placed in your charge. Please take the stand."


	5. Laws

Greetings and Salutations, all.

Yes, I am back on track. At least for now. Here is chapter five, featuring trials, tribulations, and cookies. Enjoy.

Thanks and love to all reviewers: Diamond Raider, The Fluff Ghost, Yami-chan and Unrealistic, Meagainsttheworld, Epona Harper, nathow111, Pieling, Harm Marie, Egyptian Ghost Kitty, Sunshine Silverjojo, Tornada Silverwind, lightanddarklove, hermie-the-frog, and BarnOwl93. You guys rock my socks off! For my other readers, drop me a line, eh? I love reviews, and give cheerful individual responses.

Also special appreciation and encouragement to SevenStar. I'd PM you, but it seems that e-mail from this place is down. Let's hope that's temporary.

Peace out y'all,

HiddenAuthor

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Chapter 5 – Laws

Danny was pretty sure he was trying to say something, but his mouth didn't seem to be working. Up on the stand, Clockwork sat very calm and still. If Danny hadn't spent much of the last several months with him, he would have bought the act hook line and sinker. The Ghost of Time was _afraid_.

"Clockwork." Intoned the central Ghost. "As an esteemed council member, you know the standard procedures and rigmarole as well as any of us. However, as this is an official inquiry and trial, we must do things by the book. As a witness unto yourself, do you swear to be honest in your responses?"

Clockwork smiled tightly. "Yes. I'll even promise to tell the truth. Rewards for cunning aside, I owe it to all of you to tell things exactly as they occurred." One or two of the council members seemed taken aback by this, but most of them, the center ghost included, seemed to accept the Time Ghost's odd promise. Their reactions changed to a uniform indignant as Danny found his voice.

"Wait a minute!" He called out, flinching slightly as his words echoed loudly in the room. "You can't punish Clockwork!"

"Oh?" Asked the center spirit. "Why not?" Danny spluttered for a moment, but finally resorted to shooting his friend a desperate look. Clockwork merely shook his head.

"Danny. I am above the laws of time, and may do as I please. But if I am judged guilty, I will abide by the orders of the council. Not because I have to, but because I choose to. I'm sure that you of all people can appreciate that. It is, however, nice to know you care." Danny frowned.

"But…why not me? It was that other me that did it!" The far right spirit, who had decided to wear a formal dress for such a prestigious trial, frowned over at him.

"Because, dear boy, we are not Walker. _We_ are not in the habit of punishing someone for something he _might_ do. Yes, a potential future version of yourself committed the crimes, but you yourself are blameless." The woman managed a soft smile reminiscent of the last time Danny had come before her. "I promise, though our treatment of your friend may not necessarily be kind, it will be just." Though far from satisfied, the promise was an obvious dismissal, so Danny resumed his seat. Clearing his throat, the chief Ghost resumed the trial.

"Do you understand the charges?" Clockwork nodded, but shot Danny a brief look.

"Yes, but my friend might not. Please explain if you would." The chief harrumphed for a moment, but visibly delegated the task to the councilor to his immediate left. Grumbling about inconvenience and facilitating spectators, the cantankerous ghost turned and favored Danny with a very patronizing sneer.

"Our esteemed Clockwork is being charged with reckless endangerment of the Ghost Zone in its entirety. This means that while he did not necessarily do any damage himself, his actions brought it about. We are currently to understand that Clockwork first contributed to this problem by changing your future rather than simply killing you." Danny bristled slightly. The ghost seemed unfazed and unrepentant. "Oh, sorry. We are not saying that saving you was a bad thing. We are saying that because your change of destiny required that you meet an evil future of yourself, his actions created a paradox that could only be solved by allowing that evil future version of you to exist in this timeline. If he had simply killed you, the danger would have vanished completely. His second contribution occurred several months ago, when despite his charge to guard and contain this evil being, Clockwork allowed his escape, which resulted in the mass destruction and chaos for which he is now being tried." The ghost simpered slightly. "I trust that is sufficient." His superior nodded coldly.

"Yes, very good. And since you went so far as to mention why the charges were brought about, I shall simply forgo repeating you and ask Clockwork if he understands." He turned towards the time ghost. "Do you?" He was answered with yet another nod. "Good. Now as is custom, we shall allow you as long as you wish to explain yourself. I only ask that you bear in mind that we are _not_ beyond the influence of time, and would appreciate simple, concise information." Danny wasn't sure, but he thought the center ghost had almost made a joke. Almost.

"Very well." Clockwork said. "On my original assignment regarding Danny and his future, I was ordered to eliminate the future creature known as Dan Phantom. It was understood that the least disruptive way to do this was simply to kill Danny immediately. However, like you, I am not in the habit of killing someone for things they might someday do. Danny may have been destined for great evil, but he was blameless at the time. So, I attempted to steer him away from that dark future. In the original timeline, Danny grew so frustrated with his CAT studies that he deliberately stole the answers after staging a ghost battle at the Nasty Burger, damaging the boiler. These two events combined to set everything up for the catastrophe that led to Dan Phantom's creation. Attempting to be subtle, I tried to distract Danny from this course by having him fight Box Lunch, a ghost that could exist in several good futures which prevented paradox, at the moment when he was about to give up studying and resort to cheating. In the new future, Danny acquired the test answers completely by accident, and I had hopes that he would return the paper to Mr. Lancer. Unfortunately, he still decided to cheat." Danny winced at this. He still felt horrible about his behavior that week. Since then, he'd always asked Jazz and his friends to help him study on and off duty, so he would never feel that pressured again.

"At this point," Clockwork continued, "I realized that subtlety would not work. I sent Skulktech through the time portal to set up the Nasty Burger for a theatric lesson and brought Danny here, where he could face what his current path would do to him and his loved ones." The older ghost winced. "It was a harsh lesson, but I think it ultimately did much good for the world. Many of the potential universes are much brighter because of how I chose to manipulate Danny's actions. I completed my assignment, and vowed to contain the unfortunate side effect, Dan Phantom, in my castle indefinitely."

Several ghosts in the chamber were nodding slowly. Danny for his part seemed taken aback. He'd never realized just how much Clockwork had manipulated him and the ghosts he fought at that time. And worse, he knew that Clockwork couldn't have been certain everything would work out like it had. Still, it _had_ worked out, and at least he wasn't dead. The half ghost decided to give his friend the benefit of the doubt. He was sure that Clockwork had done the best he could to make sure he didn't become evil. That would have to be enough. Back on the dais, Clockwork was once again being questioned.

"Allow me to interject." Came a voice from the far left. Whoever this ghost was, he was definitely unfamiliar. Had Clockwork taken his job? "You say you completed your assignment, but I was under the impression that you were told to eliminate Dan Phantom. It seems to me that your actions not only guaranteed his existence, they created him immediately in this timeline, beyond your abilities to remove. I submit that your actions were not only incompetent. If there was any way to eliminate a threat of such magnitude _as you were instructed_, your failure to act on it was criminal."

"Wait a moment." Called out the lady ghost. "Let us not get ahead of ourselves. You know as well as I that such accusations and deliberations on our part must not take place until the witnesses have given us all pertinent information. I know you've never liked Clockwork, but to disrupt his trial with such blatant-"

"Enough!" Shouted the center ghost lividly. The entire room shook, and Danny's form wavered for a moment, silver rings flashing at his waist. "I will not allow sniping and childish antics in my court! The council will act with all due decorum or there will be more than one of us on trial this day!" The far ghosts both turned a most extraordinary pale color and immediately quieted. Turning politely, the center ghost smiled at Clockwork and motioned for him to continue.

"Last September, I found my promise tested by a unique problem. A major dividing point in the timeline was upon me. Dan Phantom escaped." The other ghosts turned and regarded Clockwork curiously. "I could not destroy him as his existence was both outside of time and based on my own actions, but it was within my power to freeze him in time indefinitely. However, I felt that both the Human World and the Ghost Zone would ultimately be better off if I allowed him to go free. His rampage calmed many of the more violent and malicious ghosts, which I'm sure everyone here can appreciate. And more importantly, his threat upon the human world prevented the Guys in White from eventually attacking and capturing Danny. If they had succeeded in taking him into custody, they would have used his unique DNA to develop new technologies to give the American Military ghost powers. This would have caused a chain reaction resulting in a global war in the Human World and eventual conquest by humans of the Ghost Zone. I have attended several meetings with you on the…unique condition of ghost-human hybrids, and I am sure you can all see why such an eventuality should be prevented at all costs." This time, even the center council ghost was pale.

"You…have evidence of this?" Clockwork nodded.

"I can show you if you like. I already showed Danny his capture at the end of the Dan Phantom affair." The councilors looked back and forth amongst themselves.

"It is true that the path to creating human-ghost hybrids must be hidden at all costs." Said the ghost to the right of the center. "We have spoken at length on this matter." The others nodded, even the spirit on the far left. Eventually, the center ghost turned towards Danny, who was busy shaking off images of a global half-ghost war.

"Mr. Phantom. You are perhaps the closest person to all of this, both in your…unique relationship with Clockwork, and in your connection to Dan Phantom and the humans. Do you have anything to say at this time that you feel is pertinent to this case?" Danny looked up, confused.

"I don't understand. Why would preventing more half-ghosts be so important?" He asked. The center ghost stared at him for a moment.

"Are you joking?" He asked finally. Danny shook his head. "Think about it, child. You first gained your powers less than two years ago. When you first received them, your powers were no match for such low-level creatures as the box ghost. Now, after such a short time, you are ranked among the most powerful of our kind. And you show no sign of stopping." The ghost shook his head back and forth. "When Masters acquired his powers, we were all stunned to see such a strange and dangerous creature, but when his abilities leveled off at their current peak several years ago, we decided that while he _was_ powerful, he was manageable. You are pulling up to him in terms of power, but you gain a new ability almost on a monthly basis, your powers increase marginally every day, and the rate of increase is showing no sign of leveling off."

The ghost to his right nodded. "Clockwork has said that it is because you are young while Masters was already mature when he received his abilities. We now understand the true potential of such beings as the two of you. One of you alone is far too powerful; the thought of an army of your kind is unthinkable. For the safety of both human kind and the Ghost Zone, hybrids must never be allowed to multiply."

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Sam and Tucker were walking towards Danny's house after school to check on him when Valerie pulled up behind them.

"Hold it you two." Danny's oldest friends paused mid-step and turned as one to face a very confused and angry huntress. Valerie pursed her lips and pinned her boyfriend down with her eyes. Sam stood there unblinking.

"Shouldn't you be in class, Val? You don't have last period Study Hall."

"I cut." She answered indifferently. "My dad'll kill me for it later, but Danny's in trouble. I know I haven't known him as long as you guys, but I'm a part of this now. I want answers." Tucker and Sam looked at each other for a moment silently, the turned their back on her and kept walking. Val frowned for a moment, but brightened and caught up as she saw Tucker motion for her to join them.

"Listen Val." He opened. "You know I like you. And I want to share everything with you. But what you're asking me to talk about; it's not my secret to tell. Or Sam's." He added as Valerie turned towards the stone-faced girl. "I want you to know, and believe it or not, Sam does too. But we're going to have to wait 'till Danny's ready. You've been a great friend, Val, but you're relationship with him…"

"It's complicated." Sam said simply, picking up the conversation as her friend faltered. "He wants to talk to you, Val. He's just…scared. He'll come around." The three walked on in companionable silence for a while, heading towards Fenton Works.

"What's he scared of?" Valerie asked, breaking the silence with visible effort. Tucker shrugged, almost as in the dark as his girlfriend, and Sam didn't answer. "Sam?" The girl sighed as the large brick building came into sight.

"He's scared you won't want to be his friend anymore." She said simply. Valerie stared at the girl, openmouthed. "And even though I'd have died laughing if someone told me I'd be saying this a few months ago, I think he's wrong. I think everything will be fine between you, but that doesn't help him talk about it." Finally, the three stood in front of the Fentons' together. Groaning at the injustice of the world, Sam turned and kept going. "I need to get home. As my parents would say, 'no Manson is going to get away with some sort of ghostly tryst.'" The girl shuddered. "Never mind that _I _know I didn't do anything, _they_ know I didn't do anything, and even half the _ghosts_ I know know I didn't do anything. _Or_ that nobody says 'tryst' anymore. Oh, no. So long as the paper says it _could_ have happened, we must avoid scandal." Muttering various low opinions about one parent or the other, Sam marched down the sidewalk. Val turned towards Tucker.

"You know, she really needs to figure out who she likes more. I just hope Phantom and Danny never fight each other over her." Tucker's mouth twitched.

"Nah. I'm pretty sure that won't happen." He said shortly. Gesturing with his hand, he led Val up and into the Fentons' house. Maddie was in the kitchen baking cookies. The two could tell it was her own recipe when she pulled the latest sheet out upside down to keep the treats from floating away.

"Hi you two!" She said brightly, deftly plucking off the hovering confections and stuffing them into a special jar. "Cookie? It's my favorite new recipe. You can eat as many as you want, and you'll just _lose_ weight! Well," she amended, "at least for a little while." Chuckling to herself, the older woman put the next batch into the oven. Valerie laughed, shaking her head.

"No thanks, Mrs. Fenton. I don't think I want to eat anything radioactive."

"Hmm." Maddie pursed her lips. "It's funny; Danny says the same thing every Monday." Both friends shared a laugh at Danny's expense.

"Speaking of Danny, is he in his room?" Valerie asked. "I wanted to talk to him about him and Phantom." Maddie shot Tucker a quick look, and he discretely moved his head from side to side.

"I see." She said carefully. Grabbing a floating cookie for herself, the older huntress sat down at the table and motioned for the younger one to join her. Tucker wandered downstairs to 'help Mr. Fenton and junk.' Nibbling lightly on her snack, the older woman smiled over at Valerie.

"Why don't we talk a bit first?" With a hesitant nod, Maddie finished off her cookie and gently wiped her mouth with a wet napkin. "It keeps the crumbs from hitting the ceiling." She explained. "Now, how about you tell me everything that's on your mind, and I'll help you figure out how to talk with Danny. This is a pretty sensitive subject with him." Nodding, Valerie hesitantly reached over and nibbled on a cookie. It was good, and incredibly light.

"Well, the first time I talked about it, it was with Phantom, so Danny doesn't really know most of it." Maddie had an odd half-smile at this, but motioned for the girl to continue. "Well, the other night, I told Phantom that I thought he was a sort of ghost copy the portal made of Danny when he had that accident freshman year."

"Wow," Mrs. Fenton said to herself. "That had to be a weird conversation." Val shot the older woman a strange look.

"Yes." She said slowly. "That's what _he_ said. But it makes so much sense." She said, warming up to her pet theory. "Danny and Phantom look the same, sound the same, act the same, age the same way, and Phantom first showed up _after_ the accident. And," she finished, "Phantom isn't like other ghosts. That Skulktech thing said so himself. Though," the girl frowned, "he said something about Vlad, too." The girl looked up. "When I asked about it, Phantom was acting…"

"Drunk?" Maddie supplied. Frowning, Val nodded agreement. "It's understandable. We saw him right after that. It was the low current he was hit with. It can affect some ghosts and make them act like they are drunk. It wasn't his fault." The young huntress grinned momentarily at that, deciding to add nine volt batteries to her private arsenal. "Go on." The woman pressed, now on her second cookie.

"He acted so strange." She said, still completely bewildered by his odd behavior, reaching for a cookie of her own. "He said he wanted to tell me what he was, but he didn't think I'd like him. He said he wanted to be human." The woman seemed to tear up for a second at that, but brusquely rubbed her eyes and pretended nothing happened. Val decided to respect her privacy. "But now, I think Danny knows something. I told the three of them at school that I'd figured out Phantom's secret. Tucker said he'd been trying to get _Danny_ to tell me for months. When I told them what I knew, they all clammed up. It was like I was _wrong_. But if I am, Danny knows the truth. And he's not saying." Frustrated, the girl threw down the last uneaten half of her cookie, only for the now broken chunks to float up in front of her face towards the ceiling. "I'm his friend too, and I've worked with Phantom for _months_. I deserve to know!"

Maddie quietly nibbled on her cookie for several minutes as Valerie took some deep breaths. When the young girl looked marginally calmer, the huntress finished off her snack with one large bite and smiled over at the poor girl.

"You're right." She said finally. "But it's not my secret to tell."

"Tucker said the same thing." Valerie answered, idly plucking a few crumbs without sufficient lift from the air in front of her face and licking her fingers. "I'm not asking you to tell Danny's secrets for him. Or Phantom's. I'd just like some help on how to ask."

After a brief pause to change out another set of cookie sheets, Maddie plopped down with a sigh. "My only advice is to wait for Jazz to come home, and wait for Phantom with her through his door." She said finally. "He's much calmer in there, more relaxed and inclined to talk about himself. And Jazz will help with the difficult psychological bits." Face turning to a teasing grin, the older woman leaned forward conspiratorially. "Now tell me. What have you and Tucker been working on in those towers?"

The two spent an enjoyable half-hour talking about boys and death rays, with an occasional flying cookie to break the conversation.

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"Clockwork." Intoned the chief ghost slowly. "After much deliberation, we believe we have reached a practical and just solution." Danny did his best to remain calm and still to support his friend, who was only bluffing wish slightly more skill. "While your actions may benefit the future, that remains to be seen. We must act on what we know. What we know is that you not only failed to eliminate the potentiality of Dan Phantom, you guaranteed his existence. However, because your later action resulted in his destruction, we have decided to view your assignment as successfully completed. This only leaves the problem of Phantom's destruction of many ghosts and lairs, and his influence's impact on the human world. In light of your contentions we have decided on a…unique ruling." The ghost arched his fingers over his podium and shared a nod with his colleagues. "We will wait. You say that the future will be brighter for your actions. So we will wait and see. In six months' time, if no mass damage or threats occur as a direct result of your actions in this matter, you will be judged innocent of all crimes. If something does happen, we shall observe and see if the situation resolves. If it does not, you will be held responsible for both the damage already done and the damage done during this period. Finally, according to policy, your presumed guilt taints all legal actions you have undertaken during and after your crimes and all such activities must be wiped from the record. All beings you have personally convicted without supporting evidence during this time will be given presumed innocence and carte blanche. They are to be released as soon as you return to your castle. If you are judged innocent, they will all be retried for their crimes and returned to custody on your testimony. You are to take no actions to influence the future from this point until we return for your second hearing. That is all."

The next thing either Clockwork or Danny knew, they were floating in the Ghost Zone. The council door was nowhere to be found. The time ghost immediately set off for home, Danny trailing behind him.

"Okay, I don't get it." He said finally. "They're letting you go?"

"Not exactly." His friend answered. "I am essentially under house arrest. I can go where I please, but I am barred from using my powers. Also, they are making me release Vlad."

"WHAT!" Danny yelped.

"It can't be helped." His friend sighed. "If I might be guilty, my word is worthless. And my word as a council member was the only thing keeping Vlad imprisoned. I was the councilor in charge of protecting your haunt from violation, and there is no evidence of his crime that the councilors will now accept."

"But Valerie's tape!" The half ghost called desperately.

"Tapes are a relatively new idea. Most of the councilors are several hundred years old, and they do not change quickly. Video footage is not yet accepted as evidence. Only testimony from an impartial ghost of good standing can be used as hard evidence. You are not impartial, and I am no longer in good standing, so I must let Vlad go. At least for six months." As the two neared the castle, Clockwork paused and gestured towards Danny's ghost door.

"You should go. I can't tell you anything that is about to happen, but you need to get going, and stay prepared. Several lives, including mine, rest on you maintaining the peace. I'll visit in a few weeks." Danny opened his mouth to reply and Clockwork vanished. Dejected, the half ghost headed home. It was several minutes before he realized Clockwork had simply become invisible. After all, his friend couldn't control time.


	6. Names

Hey everybody!

Much love and more glory to all reviewers. Epona Harper, Unrealistic, fan-girls2.0, The Fluff Ghost, SevenStar, Egyptian Ghost Kitty, Queen S of Randomness 016, Meagainsttheworld, hermie-the-frog, Diamond Raider, Pieling, acosta parez jose ramiro, Sasia 93, egyptianqueen777, DP fan, BratCat, Chaos Dragon, xheartkreuzx, Tornada Silverwind, and Airgirl Phantom. I think that's all of you. I hope.

My e-mail is working again. Yay! Well, almost. It's still a bit backed up, and keeps getting reviews from chapter 3 or something, and not the new ones. Meh, I'm sure it'll straighten itself out. And now I think you guys'll get all of those responses I sent you. :D

Here is chapter 6. I tried to cover as many of the different groups involved in this story as I could without criminally underexposing someone. But it's mostly about Danny and Valerie. (Yup, it's time.)

Cheers!

HiddenAuthor

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Chapter 6 – Names

The red haired and dark haired girls stood side by side outside a plain black door. Behind them, a small bedroom provided a chaotic backdrop suggesting several ghosts had fought each other around them in the recent past. But Jazz had already assured Valerie that Danny's room always looked like that.

"So, do we go in?" Vale asked finally. Jazz shrugged, looking uncomfortable.

"I don't know. It seems like a violation of privacy." The younger girl raised an eyebrow.

"And breaking into Danny's room wasn't?"

"That's different." Jazz said calmly, slowly turning the old-style silver latch and opening the door. "This place is more personal than a bedroom. It's a part of him, Val. It wouldn't be right to just pop in uninvited."

"Well Phantom _must_ be like Danny then, because last time I visited, this place was a real…" The huntress's words trailed off as the broad expanse of winding stone stairways and arches stretched off as far as her eyes could see. Pillars extended to support balconies of every shape and size, some even seeming to come down from ceilings to hold stairways up. Water trickled along a chiseled course only to continue into open space as the floor beneath it abruptly stopped, falling on the other side of the open chamber into a large pool that seemed to be lying sideways on the wall. Valerie realized with a start that it had become a waterfall. Up and down seemed to exist everywhere, but which direction they were seemed to depend on where you were standing. While there was no life of any kind, plant or animal, every solid surface in sight seemed to be carved or gouged into fantastic images of people, animals, and ghosts. Flowering vines of cold stone grew up and around pillars, drooping leaves and shoots in midair as they arced between the supports. Some even dripped real dew into the flowing streams, catching the light of the brilliant full moon as it fell. The air was pleasantly cool and damp, like the inside of a large cave. And every bit as still.

"Dump." She finished lamely. Jazz didn't even look at her.

"So this is what he's been doing in here." She said quietly. Valerie turned and shot her a questioning glance. "He's spent lots of time in here since September. But for the last few days, he's only left to…do other stuff he needs to do. I was getting worried, but I never thought…" She trailed off as she looked around. Stars twinkled between the large outer windows, adding to the sense that they were walking through some sort of quiet outdoor maze. As the two unconsciously walked deeper into the winding labyrinth of stairs and halls, the carvings became less common and less complex. Eventually, they found themselves surrounded by simple paving stones, completely lost.

"So," Valerie started hesitantly, "how do we find him in all of this?" Jazz shrugged, looking fairly unconcerned.

"He'll find us." She said simply, trying to enjoy the view. "He always knows when someone comes in here. And he's the only one who can get us back out."

"Can't we just retrace our steps?" Valerie asked, confused, gesturing behind them as they walked further into the giant maze. Jazz laughed lightly, and this time a touch nervously.

"No." She said simply. "This place was made to prevent people from finding their way out again. Especially people who try to figure it out logically. Even if we took the path we think leads out, it would probably be the wrong one. And flying isn't allowed." The two sat down on a raised bench beside the path. Neither door was currently in sight, but Valerie thought she could still here water. "Let's wait here for a bit, okay? This is the first bench I've ever seen in here, so it's as good a place as any." Nodding, Val leaned back against a raised wall and looked up.

"Why the night sky?" Val asked after a few minutes. Jazz shrugged.

"Why the stairs? Why the paths? I don't know." She said, with a slight trace of annoyance that made no sense to the younger girl. "He's a lot more complicated than most people think. If I had to guess, I'd say the night sky is quiet, and it reminds him of flying. I think he likes to look at the stars." She answered quietly. "He's always liked looking at the stars." Val quirked an eyebrow.

"How long have you known Phantom, anyway?" Jazz jumped for a second, but settled down, an odd half-smile on her face.

"A long time. Long enough to know that to him, those stars are still too far away."

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The prisoner stirred, moving at first slowly, then with greater speed as the last of Clockwork's power left him. Blinking, the tall vampire ghost sighed dejectedly and fell into a sitting position on the floor.

"Has it been one hundred years already?" He asked quietly. Clockwork remained impassive.

"Do not take that tone, Plasmius. You know as well as I that with how long ghosts can live, a lighter sentence would fail as a deterrent."

"But _I'm not just a ghost_!" He roared, flinging himself against the bars of his cell, eyes glowing molten red. "Everything I'd worked for, every_one_…" He sank back down again, all fight leaving him. "Maddie. She's gone. And Jack died all on his own, probably in his sleep as the proud grandfather of a score of appalling mutant grandchildren." He muttered bitterly. Though he'd love to let this disgusting creature actually serve his sentence after all the trouble he'd caused, Clockwork knew the consequences if he kept him much longer.

"As your arresting officer, prosecuting attorney, and guard, I must inform you that I have come under review." He said, trying to keep an even tone. His prisoner's ears perked slightly. "I am under six month probation due to my actions regarding Danny Phantom and an alternate version of him from a now nonexistent future. As such, my legal testimony is temporarily worthless and you have been granted carte blanche. I am releasing you for the term of my probation on the understanding that you will resume your sentence in six months' time." Vlad looked up, something akin to hope returning the glow to his eyes.

"How long?"

"Six months." The red eyes burned.

"I meant how long have I been here!" Vlad shouted with all the strength in his lungs. Clockwork frowned at his prisoner.

"As I said, you have been here for six months. Or perhaps closer to seven." The time ghost repeated with forced calm. "As far as I understand, your companies and holdings are trying to terminate your ownership. I must congratulate you on your living will. You must have foreseen this sort of possibility, and I may tell you now that your fifty year holding clause held up in court. Your assets are still available. Now please," the timekeeper said coldly, "get out of my home."

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"I don't get it." Val said irritably. "I fight with him, I trust him, and I even accepted that he won't become that evil ghost we fought together. Heck, I even cut the hints about that out of my video when I gave it to the press so the town wouldn't judge him! What secret could be bigger than 'I might become a super-powerful monster who can destroy cities with one good scream?'?" Jazz winced slightly, but settled back and tried to answer, silently begging Danny to hurry up.

"He knows that you trust him." She said finally. "It's not about that. He…doesn't think you'll like him." Val raised an eyebrow. "That's different. You don't have to like someone to trust them, Valerie. And he wants to be your friend. He knows you deserve the whole truth, he's just scared to tell you." The young huntress looked over at the older girl, confused.

"I never said Phantom and I were all that close." She argued. "I work with him and respect him, but I've already told him I'm not looking for any more than that from a ghost. He seems fine with that. So why would-"

"Hey Val." A calm voice called from down the long, winding path. Relieved, and slightly annoyed, Val turned from her conversation towards the source of the greeting.

"Phantom. Well it's about…Danny?" Danny stood in human form, smiling nervously at his friend and sister.

"Um, hi?" He said, rubbing the back of his neck as he shot Jazz a look. His sister mimed zipping her mouth behind Valerie's back, and her brother nodded gratefully. Val whipped her head around and scowled as she missed the girl's half of this silent byplay. Stepping forward, Danny reached out and grabbed the huntress by the hand.

"Come on." He said, giving her arm a light tug. "We should talk a bit before we start spilling secrets everywhere."

"How'd you get here?" She asked, stubbornly refusing to budge. "Did Phantom bring you?" Danny's smile widened for a split second, before nervousness once again forced it down.

"Something like that."

"Well is he going to show himself? I think I should hear this 'big secret' from him." Danny flushed for a second, but nodded.

"Yeah." He said, gulping, and then put on a strange half-smile. "If things go well, I promise Phantom will show up." Frowning slightly, but unwilling to just sit and wait for one more second, Val shrugged and followed along behind her one-time boyfriend. Jazz sat back down on the bench.

"I'll just wait here." She called out. "Phantom can come and get me when he has time." Danny nodded absently and led Valerie along winding paths that changed once again to carved works of art, with thin poles supporting complex vine-covered roofs, all made of stone. Off to the side, a row of fountains grew out of a spiraling path, seeming to shoot water towards the ground as they turned upside down.

"You seem to know your way around." Valerie said. Danny nodded slowly.

"I'm in here a lot." He said simply, gesturing towards the masterpiece. "These fountains took a long time to rebuild. I-uh, Phantom wanted them exactly as they were the first time. They're a bit simpler than some of the new stuff, but…" He trailed off as he led the girl along the large stone fountains.

"Why were these so important to him?" She asked.

"He made them for Sam." He said quietly. Valerie pulled up, surprised.

"How can you just say that so calmly?" She asked. "I've seen how she acts towards Phantom. How can you just take it?" Danny shrugged, sitting down on thin air. A new stone bench grew out of the floor and met him at the perfect level.

"I'm okay with it." He said slowly. Valerie stared down at the bench.

"How did you do that?" She asked loudly, trying to make something appear for her to sit on. Danny waved his arm and a second bench appeared for Valerie. The girl quickly sat down.

"You have a lot of questions, Val. But I guess if I answered them sometimes, it wouldn't be this hard. But I've been afraid." Danny talked quietly, studying his shoes. "I wanted to tell you, but like you said, you're not into dead people. And I wanted to stay friends." He looked up sadly. "I want-"

"You want to be human." Valerie said quietly, her voice shaking and her eyes wide with shock and some fear. "You're just not." Nodding, Danny let silver light dance off of his body as he shifted forms, throwing the walls into sharp relief as it flashed off of the falling fountain waters.

"Is that such a bad thing?" He asked again. Shaking her head from side to side and shaking, Valerie stared at the strange creature that had been her boyfriend, then her friend. Her enemy, and then her ally. A human. A ghost. In the end, there was just no way he could be both.

"No!" She shouted. "Stop it! It's not true! You're not dead! Danny's not dead! He…you… wouldn't have lied to me. You can't be the same!" Eyes widening, Danny rushed over to grip the girl's shoulders. Valerie jumped back out of his reach, falling into the fountain but not even noticing; her eyes still fixed on this strange thing that tore her world to shreds just by existing.

"I'm not dead, Val. I'm just different. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you, but I knew you'd be upset. Just try to understand, I-"

"Shut up!" She cried out, eyes still wide in shock. "Leave me alone! I just want out of this place. I want to go home! Please." The girl's breath sped up as she backed away, verging on hyperventilation. "I want to go." Not knowing what else to do, Danny quickly flew into her.

Valerie's body abruptly went limp. Cancelling the anti-flight effect of his private home, Danny quickly flew over to where Jazz was waiting. His sister stared at Valerie's body as it landed in front of her, and sent a probing glance into her brother's eyes, which quickly looked away.

"Come on." He said brusquely. "Let's get out of here. I'll drop her off in her bed and make sure she didn't hurt herself." Carefully, the older girl reached out a comforting hand, which Danny quickly shook off.

"What happened?" She asked quietly.

"She's not into dead people." He said quietly. Jazz frowned at this, trying to make sense of how Valerie might have reacted.

"Just give it time, Danny." She said softly. "I'm sure things will be alright." Not even looking back, Danny nodded.

"I know. I'm in her head, remember? She's already calming down. It's just…" He sighed. "She was so scared, Jazz. Am I really that scary?" His sister opened her mouth to answer, but closed it as she realized she had no answer. "I know she'll accept me. I just wish I knew how she'll act around me now. I don't think I can take her flinching around me all the time."

Jazz nodded as the two approached a familiar black door. "What will you do after?" Valerie's arms shrugged.

"I think I'll come back here for a while." He said sadly. "I have a lot of 'coping' to do."

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Vlad sat in his dusty study and grumbled irritably as he stirred his mug of instant tea and typed long lines of codes into his private computer. Of course his staff had left months ago when they found their master unable to either pay or punish them, as the case may be. And of _course_ as the master of time, Clockwork would know that the cruelest time he could release a hopelessly behind-schedule businessman would be 5:01 PM.

Scowling at the time ghost's small joke, his face finally lit with triumph as Technus's infiltrator program successfully copied and dumped Daniel's computer's contents into his mainframe. The fact that the program still worked undetectably six months after its last upgrade spoke volumes for the ghost's skill. Vlad made a mental note not to mention it, lest the greedy spook ask for a bonus. After ten minutes of sorting out the obviously useless material, Vlad decided to start his reconnaissance with the young ghost boy's diary. Bringing up the reasonably large file, Vlad gave his mouse wheel a quick spin.

_November 10_,

_I visited Sam again tonight, and only just got back. I can tell she still loves my uniform! The two of us sat on the edge of her bed for an hour, talking about junk. Her grandma learned some new cookie recipe from an old college friend, and Sam and her spent all afternoon in the kitchen baking. I guess her parents are out of town, 'cause they usually won't let her do stuff like that. It's too bad, the cookies are great! Maybe I can get the recipe for mom. What's the weirdest thing she could do to a _cookie

_Once the cookies were done, Sam noticed some chocolate on my uniform, so she tore the whole thing off and pinned me down on top of the mattress. Flinging the rest of the suit onto a nearby chair, we quickly – _

_Dear Jazz,_

_I know you've been hacking into my diary for the last few weeks to keep track of what Sam and I are doing. Since you don't trust me, what we really did after eating the cookies was write up that hot number. I hope you liked reading it. Please stay off my computer._

_Later,_

_Danny and Sam_

Vlad stared at the screen for a few moments, eventually managing to close his gaping mouth. This might not be worth reading. Still, he'd found out about Dan Phantom by scanning this diary, so it had its moments. No doubt he'd find some way to wreak some havoc in young Daniel's life. After all, if he'd been released when Clockwork was only on _probation_, just think what might happen if the time ghost got into real trouble?

Smirking at the thought, Plasmius returned to the computer screen and kept reading. Each time he found something potentially useful; it was highlighted and dragged to a small, new folder on his screen.

'_Laius_'

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Down in the well-lit and temporarily clean basement lab of Fenton Works, Tucker was busy fielding screwdrivers and wrenches for Jack.

"I just don't get it." Tucker said, throwing a small Phillips towards Mr. Fenton's head. "Sometimes it's like Val and I don't connect at all. She's so into ghost hunting, it's like she barely has time for anything else! Doesn't that sound unhealthy?" Jack shrugged his shoulders before sliding under the Specter Speeder.

"Nope. Sounds fun. That's how I met Maddie! V-err, Vlad, he and I were going to class together and this weird ghost popped out of nowhere! I'd never seen anything like it. Vlad went to get help, and crashed into her." Despite their differences now, Jack couldn't' help but chuckle. "I could tell he had a crush on her. But she liked me. Still don't really know why. But if Vlad hadn't been there, we'd never have met. And we've been hunting ghosts ever since." The boy rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but I'm not a ghost hunter! I just run tech support. Danny's always been the heavy hitter, and now that Sam's been working with Mrs. Fenton on that ghost judo stuff, they don't really need me." There was a brief shout as Jack singed some of his hair off.

"Of course they need you!" Jack said heartily. "You might not hit these ghosts head-on like Danny, but you're still important! Just think of all the times Mads and I have gone to D-man for help lately. He doesn't fight ghosts either, but he's got an awesome mind for the weapons, and have you seen those towers fire? That had to take a lot of work."

"Eight hours and a lot of code." Tucker answered absently, and then smiled as Jack rolled out from under the flying machine with a surprised look on his face. "I might have done the last tower myself." He said, embarrassed. But Jack just grinned.

"See? That's what I'm talking about! You've got stuff, kid!" Looking around, his smile turned hopeful. "Now did Maddie send down more cookies?"

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This was no mere battle. This was no argument. This was World War Three.

"NO! NO WAY! I AM _NOT_ WEARING _THAT_!" Sam screamed at her scowling parents, pointing at the latest pink horror the two had toted up for her inspection. Naturally, her grandmother was not allowed to be in the room.

"This is a delicate and beautiful dress, Sammykins." Her mother said calmly. "We have allowed you to dress like a corpse for your day-to-day life if that is truly your wish, but you will not wear those ghastly clothes to the spring formal ball. Countless family friends will be attending, along with their sons." The woman allowed herself a slight smile at that last. Sam's face darkened further.

"Mother," she said in a cold voice that mocked the formal title even as she used it, "in case you've been living under a rock for the last few months, I'M ALREADY DATING SOMEONE!" Her father snorted.

"That Fenton boy?" He asked, amused. "Sweetie, you may amuse yourself as you see fit in your free time, but we are speaking of a _match_. Someone who can take proper care of you, and the family name. And_ that_ family is a little-"

"Interesting?" Sam supplied. "Unique? _Fun_?" Her parents exchanged another glance.

"Samantha, this really must stop." Her mother supplied in what would pass for a reasonable tone. "Your father and I have already agreed to allow you to see the boy, but if you think we'll allow you to take things further with that odd, dysfunctional little-"

"That's IT! OUT OF MY ROOM!" Sam yelled at the top of her voice. Her parents' faces turned concerned, but Sam wasn't about to flatter herself. Her window was open.

"Samantha! The neighbors!" Plastering on an innocent expression, Sam turned and stalked towards the window.

"You're right, mom. How thoughtless of me." Sam calmly turned and bellowed out the window. "MY FAMILY IS HAVING A FIGHT! MY NEW DRESS IS STUPID! MY PARENTS DON'T LIKE MY BOYFRIEND! I DRESS LIKE A CORPSE!" Faces red and pale by turns, her two parents stormed from the room, probably to go sip martinis and fire the latest nanny for failing to tame their daughter. Scowling, Sam quickly turned the lock in her door.

Settling back on her bed, the girl watched with a small satisfied smirk as the lock jiggled a moment before settling back down. Naturally, her parents were too polite and well brought up to shout for her to open up. Or apologize. Grabbing a copy of 'Poe' from her nightstand, Sam curled up under the covers and prepared for a long night. At least she could talk with her friends tomorrow.

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Damon was just about to turn in for the night as his private line rang. Sighing, the man settled back into his chair and plucked up the phone. As busy as he was, his new branch of city defense was still seen by many as a joke and a waste of what little money he managed to sneak past the pencil-pushers. So this could only be the mayor. Somehow the man seemed to think this ring was a good campaign platform so he called _all the time_. Lifting the phone to his ear, the man's eyes widened as an unfamiliar voice came through the line.

"Mr. Damon Gray?" The voice seemed cold enough to be robotic. But somehow it had to be coming from a real person. Wetting his mouth, Damon put down his briefcase and picked up a pencil for quick note-taking.

"Yes?"

"We've been watching you for some time, Mr. Gray. Your work, both with Axion and the Fentons, has been exceptional. Your shielding technology may prove revolutionary to military tactics." The security officer frowned into the phone.

"I apologize if I sound blunt, but it's late. What exactly do you want?"

"Want?" The tone on the other end was amused. Maybe. "We want to help you. Better funding. More security. Things like that. With our support, that barrier will be up in no time." His frown only deepening at this, Damon set down the pencil.

"I don't know who this is, but this is an independent body that answers only to the mayor. We do not sell ourselves to political groups or businesses. No matter their agendas." The line was empty for several long moments.

"I see." The response came, finally. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Gray. We'll be in touch." Damon opened him mouth to respond, but the line was dead.


	7. News

Greetings all.

Umm...(hides) Sorry about the slight wait. I had a few logistic issues to work out to make this story work about eight chapters down the line. Fortunately, it will still work famously. Whew. So, I've figured out what Vlad's plotting, what the GIW are doing, and what various other parties I may or may not have mentioned before are up to. Now I just have to write it down and hope you don't figure it out too fast. The suspense is half the fun! (Trust me, I experienced it myself over the last few days)

Anywho, much love and adoration to all reviewers. And huzzah! Again! The e-mail is once more functional, at least for the moment. Let us all hope it stays up this time. Here's to: The Fluff Ghost, Epona Harper, BratCat, Sasia93, Unrealistic (Is Yami-chan also reading? I am under the impression you're two people, and want to give full credit), Queen S of Randomness 016, Tornada Silverwind, Sunshine Silverjojo, Meagainsttheworld, TexasDreamer01, hermie-the-frog, Diamond Raider, Pieling, acosta parez jose ramiro, Airgirl Phantom, fan-girls2.0, egyptianqueen777, kitain9, DP fan, The Only On3, BarnOwl93, Chaos Dragon, Horselvr4evr123, and cordia.

o.o

Needless to say I'm very happy with the number of reviews...And that's all for now, folks! Here's chapter 7! Please note two things: first, I do not own Star Wars or parodies thereof. Second, I will only be revealing things necessary for plot development because of the ungodly number of involved persons. If I don't say something happened, please do not assume it didn't.

Much love, y'all,

HiddenAuthor

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Chapter 7 – News

Vlad's computer had gone off hours ago, but the billionaire hadn't noticed. The old man simply sat at his desk sipping his empty teacup and stared off into space.

Maddie knew.

It wasn't like he hadn't planned on telling her. Oh no, he'd wanted to tell her since the day he finally realized he wasn't insane, but was something new, something great and powerful. She would have been so captivated, fascinated by his strange, majestic form. The two of them could have discovered its secrets together. He'd planned everything perfectly. References to the accident, a simple, quiet demonstration followed by the best explanation he had yet discovered. He wasn't sick after all, he was better than ever. Surely she would have seen that. But that was the day his two 'friends' had shown him their shiny new engagement rings.

And now Maddie knew.

His plans hadn't changed much since that day. He'd just had a few new pieces to clear off the board. Jack was a good man, but he was a fool, nowhere near good enough for dear Maddie's love. Even the _oaf_ seemed to see that. Breaking them apart, by any means necessary, would be a favor to all of them. But on that fateful day, he knew he would have to be ready and worthy of Maddie's affections. So he had gone off alone, much to his partners' dismay. He lied, cheated, and stole to build himself a financial empire. He knew Maddie was still fascinated by ghosts, if a bit violent and prejudiced, so she would need all of the things about ghost hunting she had come to love, and more. So he had built them for her. Through his many front companies, he established his true business, Dalv, and developed paranormal and military technologies. He had gone into the Ghost Zone, at first to learn of these strange new enemies, and had found a virtual well-spring of servants and allies. He discovered to his surprise that he was somehow greater than almost all of them. He was no mere emperor. He was a god! In time, he knew, Maddie would be his. Gods were above such mortal things as doubt.

He'd been so wrapped up in his efforts that their two children's births had barely registered with him. Maddie was a good, caring woman; of course she would want children. The two were Jack's creatures, though, so they could be of no great significance.

And then Daniel had been born. Naturally Vlad would not deign to place such significance in a mere human birth. No, Daniel had been born as he had, in the cold fires of an awakening Ghost Portal. At the reunion, Vlad's plan to destroy and defame Jack had failed miserably, but he had been beside himself with joy. For through the oaf's bumbling, he had given him and Maddie something more precious than all the treasures he had amassed in his entire lifetime. He had given them a son, a young hybrid still new to his powers, and malleable. It would be decades before the child even approached Vlad's power, and by that time, the new little god would love and obey the old as a father. Humans and ghosts alike would bow to their awesome power.

Vlad had made a mistake. His reading through the night had made it all clear. Daniel was like him, but Daniel was a child. And children grew quickly. When Daniel's ownership of Amity became law, Vlad had thought his problems solved. The boy would be forced to call him father at last, and with the other Fentons firmly in his power, removing Jack and claiming Maddie would be a snap. And greater still, Daniel had been rendered temporarily powerless, unable to use his own abilities to stop him. But the child's power was too great. It had burst through the bindings Vlad's device had imposed on it in a raging flood, and Vlad had at last seen the truth. Decades ahead of his plans, his pawn had become a king. And the boy would never love or obey him. Despite his disappointment, his son was destined to destroy him, so now the game had changed again. He had already taken some steps, and now he must make his next move. This time he wouldn't be playing blind. And once all of the pieces fell into place: checkmate.

A hesitant smile making its way to his face, Vlad stretched and ambled over to his phone. His Colorado chalet was peaceful and had made an excellent alibi for his long absence, but for the next few moves, he would rather be home in his Wisconsin castle. Dialing his front office, he politely requested a helicopter to take him home.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S GONE?"

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_Valerie stared at him, face empty and eyes ice cold. Sprawled on his back, Phantom looked up at her with wide eyes._

'_Val, don't do this!' Danny shouted desperately. 'I'm human!' Backing up to dodge a red ecto-blast, the boy closed his eyes and focused. Silver rings ran along his body, leaving him unchanged. He wasn't human. Flipping to the left, he tried again, still without effect. Breathless, the ghost boy fell back and looked up as the familiar glider came in low._

'_Sorry.' Val said calmly, aiming a charged ecto-cannon at his face. 'I'm not into dead people.'_

_I loud shot rang out, and Danny's vision went red._

"Ahh!" Danny sat up, breathless, and winced as his back cramped painfully. He'd been sleeping on cold, hard stone, though it had somehow melted to contour to his body anyway as he slept. All around him, his lair was ominously silent and ice cold. The normally gray stone had turned pitch black as far around as he could see, and his carvings had acquired a demonic aspect totally alien to everything outside his fear room. Winding amongst the dark aisles, his decorative rivers and waterfalls were frozen solid in their courses. Overhead, the moon shone blood red in a starless, black sky. Shivering, the ghost boy closed his eyes and concentrated, not daring to open them until a light trickling sound met his ears. Staring around to make sure nothing had stayed…_wrong_…he made his way slowly towards his door.

"Note to self," he muttered, "nightmares plus lair, bad." Still shaken by both his dream and his waking life, he slowly tried to rationalize his fears away. "Okay, Fenton. Get a grip. You were in her head, you know she doesn't want to kill you or spill to anyone. Sure, you don't know what she _will_ do, but it won't be that bad. Right." Letting out a deep breath, Danny stepped into his room and checked his clock. It was already eight o'clock.

"Oh my gosh!" Flinging on some fresh clothes and grabbing his books, Danny quickly turned himself invisible and _focused_. Seconds later, he mentally thanked his parents for not coating his outer bedroom wall with Ethren as he stepped out from an alley by Casper High. He barely made it to Lancer's room on time.

"Mr. Fenton. So good of you to join us." Lancer said dryly. Fortunately, since Danny's attendance had been infinitely better with his parent's and Valerie's help, the comment was without its former bite. Taking his seat, Danny started as he turned to see…Paulina.

"Fenton." She said levelly. "It looks like Gray isn't going to show, so you'll have to do her share of the work." Surprised, Danny quickly scanned the room.

"Don't you mean 'we'?" he asked absently as he did a head count. The huntress was nowhere to be found, though Sam and Tucker were shooting him some major signals. He mimed that he'd talk to them at lunch. Paulina tittered.

"Ehehe. No." With a scowl, the preppy pink princess slammed a large chunk of paper onto his desk. "We need to work hard. Phantom's reputation is at stake." Danny's absent nod stopped abruptly, and the large paper gained his full and undivided attention. Leering off of the front page was his evil future self.

'_Phantom Menace_

_Back in September, when this free and honest paper began, all local news media received a copy of a tape. This tape showed the fight between Phantom, the Red Huntress, and a powerful invading ghost. But it was obvious then that scenes on that tape had been cut. The second half of the fight was never shown. At the time, the Huntress claimed that blunt trauma to various key points on her suit disabled her recording equipment. But who really knows what truths were revealed in that fight? The Spook has the answer! While we have no more tape footage than before, our computer-savvy sleuths have been able to bring what we have into clearer focus. For example, the image shown above. The invading ghost is finally revealed in his awful splendor. But doesn't he seem familiar? The shape of his face, the outfit, the emblem? Phantom, I am your father! Could our own Phantom be the dark spawn of a powerful, evil ghost? Where do his loyalties really lie? What is he really? And what happened to the ghost? More on Page 7.'_

"There's just no way that disgusting blue _thing_ could be Phantom's papa." The girl blathered on as Danny stared down at the picture. "Just because they're becoming a daily paper now doesn't mean they have to spew such rubbish." Eyes widening, Danny quickly looked up.

"What? They're a daily paper now? That many people read this?" His partner scoffed.

"As if, Fenton. The people making the paper got a big start-up donation from someone; there was an article on page two. Happened just yesterday." Danny quickly shut his eyes and counted to ten, praying nobody noticed green light coming _through_ the lids. A few pens on Lancer's desk spun around in their holder. Already well into her 'Phantom dearest' monologue, Paulina hadn't noticed.

"Hey, do you think we could talk to Phantom?" She asked suddenly. Danny's eyes popped open. "You know him, and it would help prove our report if we could quote him saying how big a loser Manson is."

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'_Jack. Maddie. I'm sorry to catch you while you were out. I'm just calling to catch up. I suppose the two of you are quite angry with me, and that is understandable. But fear not, I hold young Daniel's privacy in the same respect that I trust you hold mine. I'll be in touch. Farewell.'_

Jack and Maddie looked at each other on the living room couch as the message played for the third time. It was the perfect cap to an already awful day. They'd hit some sort of dead end with their work on Danielle, Damon was having 'political problems', whatever that meant, the 'Spook' was printing more trash, and their son had finally confessed to Valerie only to have her react with shock and fear. Not that Danny had said anything. Jazz had told them the whole story. Danny himself had fled into his lair and hadn't come out until he had to leave for school. And now this.

"Jack," Maddie finally whispered, "what should we do? Does Danny know?" Jack shrugged.

"I don't know." He answered. "But we'll have to tell him when he gets home, just to be sure. What else can we do?"

"Nothing." His wife sighed. "If we tell anyone Vlad's secret, he'll tell people about Danny. He all but said so in the message. And I am not letting my little boy become some government 'project'." She said coldly. "We'll just have to watch out for him."

Nodding, Jack turned on the TV. The worried couple settled down close together and tried to distract themselves with game shows and telethons. Minutes later, the message was playing again.

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"Valerie."

The quiet voice broke the silence of the dark bedroom, and the Red Huntress sat up with a start. Her eyes were red and puffy, what little makeup she wore running in dark lines down her cheeks. Tottering across the room, she went over to a small communications device hidden in her vanity.

"Valerie, are you there, child?" There was something about that voice. It had once been so comforting, understanding and helpful. So why did it now feel her with so much anger and fear? As she pulled out the small speaker, it clicked.

"Masters." She hissed, eyes narrowing dangerously. "I thought you were in jail. Good riddance, too." Tossing the small machine back into the cubby, she ambled back towards her bed for another few quiet hours of coping.

"Is that what they told you?" The voice called out, filled with cynical humor. Val stopped in her tracks, eyes going wide. Turning back, she let her gaze fall back on the drawer.

"W-what do you mean?" She asked quietly. The room filled with dry laughter.

"My dear girl, I would think it obvious. You know of Daniel's…unique condition now. His parents are obviously deluded, believing him to be good and true. But before I disappeared I learned the truth, and in trying to protect your city, I was incapacitated for these last several months. All at Daniel's hands."

"That's a lie!" Valerie retorted, horrified. "Danny's…he's…"

"A ghost." Vlad said flatly. "A ghost who's lied to you for all this time. Who's manipulated you, who's-"

"You're the one who lied!" She shouted back, glaring at the machine. "You're the one who manipulated me! I was just some pawn to you!"

"And now you're Daniel's pawn, is that it?" The voice asked smoothly. The girl bristled.

"No! Nobody controls me! I hunt ghosts because it's the right thing to do. You helped me get started, but I don't trust you! Danny helped me too, but I don't need him either! I'll make my own choices! Why don't you all just leave me alone?" The laughter returned.

"My dear, if you are not working with me, you are certainly working for him, whether you know it or not. Didn't he tell you? As Amity Park's resident ghost, your city and all of the innocent people in it belong to him. He's probably let it slip at least once. You're cattle to him, dear. Smart, useful cattle, but just as disposable. All I want is to help you. Free you."

"He did say that." She whispered. Eyes narrowing, she turned back towards the machine. "Danny may have lied to me, but he's always done the right thing. You've only put innocent people in danger. I might not be able to like Danny, I might even hate him for all the lies, but I respect him. And I definitely don't trust you." Vlad's sigh was audible even from the drawer.

"If that's how you feel Valerie." He said sadly. "I won't try to control you, even if Danny certainly will. If you change your mind, you know how to contact me. And please, for your sake, don't tell anyone we talked. I'd hate for something to happen to you, my dear. I know from experience how horrible Daniel's anger can be."

The signal dissolved into static and finally went dead. Shaking with rage and fear, Valerie stalked back to her bed and threw herself down to sleep some more. Of course Vlad was lying. Danny had said he couldn't be trusted, that he was evil. But Danny had lied, too.

"What should I do?" The confused girl moaned into her pillow. Eventually, her agitated breathing steadied once more into the regular patterns of sleep. Her intense expression melted into a calm, almost happy serenity that few had seen on her face. Only a slight downward turn of her mouth betrayed that the poor huntress was not happy at all.

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"So Clockwork's locked up, Vlad's loose, Valerie knows and reacted badly, the 'Spook' paper got a 'convenient' bonus, and now there's an article about you and evil future you as your father." Sam grimaced distastefully. "You know, that's actually one of the grossest things I've ever seen printed." Tucker nodded absently in agreement as he moodily punched in another string of numbers on his phone. Finally, after about the tenth ring, he flipped it shut with a sigh.

"Well, I tried Val's house and her cell, but she won't pick up." Groaning, the boy plopped his head down in his hands, his meat filled tray untouched. "Why did I want you to tell her? Why? Now she won't even talk to me!" Staring down, he absently poked a mystery meat steak with his fork. "Doesn't she know how worried I am?" Sam rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Tuck. You took her to a hospital last year. From you, that's like an ultimate expression of love or something! Of course she knows. Still," she added bitterly, "you're right about one thing. We shouldn't have told her."

Danny, who had been silent since telling the whole, long story to his friends, finally looked back up.

"Sam, there's no use complaining about it now. She almost knew anyway." The ghost boy shrugged morosely. "I figured she'd have taken it better. Maybe she'll come around." His girlfriend snorted.

"Danny, you're a great person with the whole 'no judgement' thing, but you might be giving Val a bit too much credit. She's not exactly the understanding type." Across the table, Tucker's eyes shot up and narrowed.

"Oh really? Sam, don't even try to put Val down like that. You've hated her ever since she and Danny dated. And you think _she's_ not understanding?" The third member of the trio pushed back from the table and picked up his tray. "I think I'm done." With that, Tucker walked away. Danny watched with a neutral expression.

"I think that's just about the perfect way to finish off this week." He said hollowly. "Oh, and for the record Sam, you forgot that Dani's still a puddle. No big deal, it's just one more thing."

Sam wrapped an arm around her boyfriend's shoulders and played with her salad. Sure, she had problems, too, but Danny needed her. The news about the party could wait.

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'_To the esteemed Dr. Henry T. Lambaste:_

_It is with great pleasure that we extend to you this invitation to our Annual Partners' and Patrons' Spring Formal Ball. As is custom these last several years, the affair will be held two weeks hence, on the final Saturday of April. Your immediate family is also invited to attend. Kindly RSVP._

_Our sincere affections,_

_The Manson Family'_

Pausing to massage his aching hand, Jonathan eyed the stack of unwritten cards ruefully. If those two _aristocrats_ wanted hand-penned invitations with an old-world goose quill pen, that was fine. But couldn't _they_ do it?

Groaning both from his tired, strained eyes and his aching hand, the exhausted man addressed and filled the matching envelope, setting it gently into the 'out' pile. With a slight smile, he reached over and grabbed another cookie from a small tin the daughter had brought down for him when no one was looking. Those parents might be a pair of stuck-up hoity-toity bluebloods, but that girl was something else. And she could cook, too. Feeling considerably better, John checked off another name from his depressingly long list and began penning his next letter.

'_To the esteemed Mr. Vlad Masters, CEO:'_


	8. Identities

O.O

(hides)

Okay, I know, this is REALLY REALLY late. I'm very sorry. I was busy last week, and I had to go home for a family thing for the weekend, so I needed to bunch up all the stuff I had to do inside a few days. But now I'm back, and have had time to let inspiration settle upon me once again. So here is chapter 8. I'll have two more up by Saturday, hands down. I swear. This is a slow week for me, so I'll have plenty of time. May my prayers ward off Writer's Block. I'm already on thin ice over this one! 8S

Much love to all reviewers (and please don't hate me for the delay!): hermie-the-frog, Meagainsttheworld, Epona Harper, cordia, acosta parez jose ramiro, Pieling, The Fluff Ghost, Egyptian Ghost Kitty, Diamond Raider, BratCat, AirGirl Phantom, Unrealistic, xheartkreuzx, BarnOwl93, A Marked Propensity, Queen S of Randomness 016, Sasia93, egyptianqueen777, Tornada Silverwind, DP fan, Chaos Dragon, nathow111, bluename, The Only On3, and TaylorTheWeird. Thank you!

Here's chappie 8 (at last). This one has minimal suggested action, but sets up for all the fun stuff that starts happening in chapter 9. That one should be out on Thursday.

Also, anyone on here that is of the voting persuasion...VOTE!!! Democracy only works if we all do our part. Besides, obscenely long lines can be fun! ;)

Cheers,

HiddenAuthor

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Chapter 8 – Identities

Valerie was still staring into her pillow when Danny knocked on her bedroom window. Snapping out of her funk, the huntress turned to favor the floating trespasser with a tired glare.

"Val, can I come in?" The muffled words lacked the usual cocky tones Phantom was known for. Valerie looked out at the ghost boy for a good minute. Finally, she shrugged, turning away.

"Um, aren't you going to open the window?" Came a second question.

"You're a ghost." She said dully. "Just come on through." From behind her came a brief flash of silver light, and Danny Fenton walked around her bed to sit on the floor. He didn't say anything.

"Well? What do you want?" Val asked acidly. Danny sat still, not moving. "Hurry up, ghost, I don't have all day."

"Please don't call me that." Danny said finally. "I have a name."

"Fine." She said coldly. "What do you want, _Phantom_?" This last finally drew a wince from the boy on the floor. "If you just came here to sit on my floor, you can just float off."

"Why do you hate me so much?" He asked, meeting her gaze. "I've never tried to hurt you. I care about you. I try to help people."

"You _lied_ to me! You manipulated me!" The girl exploded. "For a long time. You've said yourself that you're not human, and I told you how I feel about ghosts. You _still_ kept pushing me. I respect you and admire what you do, Phantom. But you're dead!"

"I'm not _dead_. I told you that! I'm not a ghost!"

"Than _what_?" She asked in exasperation. "You can't have it both ways! Ghosts are dead! You can't be a living ghost. And humans can't do what you do! If you aren't a human, and you aren't a ghost, _what are you_?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Val's light bulb exploded, and several of her small knick-knacks floated up off the dresser and fell back down with a clatter. The room temperature plummeted. "Why should it matter, anyway? You liked me as Fenton, and you respected me as Phantom. You said yourself I act the same both ways. You like who I am, Val. Why does what I am matter so much?" Frost spread across the windowpanes, and larger and larger objects started leaving the floor. A shiver from the girl on the bed brought Danny back down to earth. Looking around, the ghost boy's eyes widened slightly.

"I gotta go." He said, and vanished instantly. The room began warming immediately, and all of Val's things became reacquainted with the floor. The huntress sat back on her bed, looking at the spot Danny had been. The boy's words echoed in her mind.

'_Why does what I am matter so much?'_

But along with that came another voice.

'_I know from experience how horrible Daniel's anger can be.'_

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Jazz pulled up in front of her house and looked in the back seat with dismay. It was only natural that she sign up for the most challenging courses Casper could throw at her, but the amount of homework she'd been given for this weekend was ridiculous. Grunting from the effort, the overwhelmed girl hefted the cardboard box filled with textbooks, notebooks, notepaper, note cards, and a scale model of the human brain. Swaying a bit on her feet, she tottered towards the door. Just managing to catch the knob, Jazz pushed the door open and lurched into the downstairs hall.

"Hey Jazz."

"Whoa!" Turning just a bit too fast to see where the voice came from, Jazz found her self violently introduced to the floor. Books spilled everywhere.

"Danny!" She shouted in exasperation, shoving books randomly back into her box and looking around for her soon to be entirely dead little brother.

"Up here." Eyebrows raised, Jazz turned her gaze up towards the ceiling. Danny was standing upside down by the ceiling light, sweeping crumbs into a pile.

"Mom's floating cookies." He explained. "The crumbs are all over the place up here. I just finished some tests with mom and dad downstairs, and they sent me up here to cool off."

"Tests?" Danny sighed, and kept sweeping.

"I went to see Valerie after I got out of school. Tucker tried, too, but she wasn't answering her door. So I snuck around and tried her bedroom window. She asked me what I am, and since I don't know for sure myself, I…lost it a little. I didn't say anything I regret, but my powers sort of got away from me. As soon as I saw, I took off back here before I did anything serious. Mom and Dad wanted to test me to make sure it wasn't another power thing like in September."

"Is it?" Jazz asked, trying her best to sound nonchalant as she picked up more of her stuff.

He chuckled hollowly. "It's not. No jumps from my last reading, which means I'm still a perfectly normal and healthy genetic mutant, not one of those creepy unhealthy ones." Pile of crumbs complete, Danny gave it a negligent wave and teleported it outside. A second wave sent Jazz's books up to her room.

"You couldn't do that _before_ I was almost done picking them up?" Danny gave a small smile as he did a summersault in midair and landed on the floor beside his sister.

"I could have," he confessed, "but then you wouldn't have had an excuse to stay down here and talk to me. This seemed easier." Jazz smiled and shook her head. Her brother was no math genius, but he was pretty good at reading people.

"So do you think Val will come around?" He asked, trying to sound casual.

"Well you freaking out, even by accident, probably didn't help." She said as they climbed the stairs. "But I think she'll make up her own mind. No matter what anybody else says about you, she'll decide based on what she knows. And since you do so much good, I can't see how she'd decide to hate you." Pausing on the stairs, Jazz turned towards her brother questioningly. "Why did you freak out, anyway? I thought you'd worked out the 'what am I?' questions with mom and dad." Danny grimaced.

"I did." He said evenly. "I told you guys everything that's going on right now."

"Is it the stress?"

"No. There's something I didn't tell you. When I saw the Ghost Council, they talked about me. Or about my 'kind', or whatever. The ghosts are scared of me, too. I guess it just freaked me out a little."

"Tell me everything."

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Damon watched with a carefully stilled face as his daughter traded blasts with a large snake ghost, one of those random spirits that visited too infrequently or wasn't intelligent enough to merit a name. With a surge of inner effort, he forced himself to turn away from the large viewing window to favor the formally dressed gentleman visitor with a neutral expression. This was made doubly hard by the mayor's presence. Mr. Montez was supposed to be impartial, but the opportunistic little man was obviously already in this guest's pocket…or pocket book, as the case may be.

"Really, Damon, I don't see why you have a problem with this." A part of Mr. Gray wanted very much to hit the annoying little man. Yes, Montez had been the one to officially commission the new defense division and given him his new job. But over the last few months, as costs rose steadily higher, Montez had begun calling incessantly, trying to scrounge up tidbits to further his political ambitions. Bare facts, the little money Damon _did_ get wasn't creating the showy security propaganda the mayor had hoped for.

"I am confused myself, Mr. Gray." Supplied the gentleman. He still hadn't given a name, and Montez hadn't asked. If anything, that made Damon more uncomfortable. "My…associates are prepared to offer all necessary materials and manpower to complete your multi-tower shielding system inside this month. We've even improved upon your original designs both for the individual security and power supply infrastructure. These changes would cost the citizens of Amity Park millions, but we'll foot the bill if you'll only turn over the construction to us. You can maintain full authority and head the division. We just want to help."

"Help?" Damon asked, eyebrow kicking up. "I'll say you want to help. But you expect me to believe after investing tens of millions of dollars, plus countless more for your improvements and rush job, that you don't want anything back? I've heard some political crap in my day, whoever you are, but that's just insulting."

"Damon!" Montez admonished. "That's no way to treat a guest in your own headquarters." The mayor leaned in close. "Besides, this is just the kind of break we've been waiting for." He whispered fervently. "You need more money and help for your division, I need the bean counters in finance off my back, and we both need this project to succeed if we want to keep our jobs. Who's losing out here?"

"Are you kidding?" Damon hissed back. "They might not be up front about it, but they want _something_. Nobody does this kind of work for charity, and the fact that they're not saying what they want just makes me _more_ nervous."

"Tough." The mayor answered. "I'm not about to turn down an offer like this. What could I do, tell the people I'm spending their tax dollars for the next ten years on this thing when I could have had it up and running by month's end at no cost? Forget being fired, I'd be lucky to make it out of town in one piece! You can either go along with it or resign so I can replace you with someone who will." Montez flashed a sly grin. "And if you leave, you won't to watch them for whatever you think they're trying to do."

Gray favored his boss with a venomous glare for a moment before turning to regard his unwanted partner. He seemed to be cleaning his ear, blissfully unaware of the silent exchange that just happened right in front of him. Only the smug look on his face betrayed the act for what it was.

"Fine. Welcome to the Anti-Ghost Security Division. But I want to be clear right now that I don't trust you, I'll be double and _triple_ checking everything you do to _my_ towers, and I'll be cosigning every check, every form, and every slip that passes under your nose. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." The man said calmly. "I'm sure in time you and your fair city will thank us for our contributions."

"And where is the money coming from, exactly? Who are you representing? Considering the dangerous military nature of my work, I think it's obvious that I'd want to know who's paying for all of this."

"I regret that my…employers must remain secret. It is one of the conditions of our support. Your mayor already signed the contract; this meeting is more of a formality. I'm sure you wouldn't begrudge us a few secrets. I'll be perfectly transparent with regards to my work here, of course." Damon scowled slightly and resolved to campaign against Montez as soon as he didn't need his support. The man was an idiot.

"Fine. But I'll hear _your_ name right now. I have to call you something." The gentleman was silent for some time.

"You can call me Smith. I trust that will be agreeable." Mr. 'Smith' started out the door, Montez trailing close behind like an attention-starved puppy. "Now if you don't mind, I have several calls to make, to set things in motion. We have a lot of work to do, and only two weeks to do it."

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Saturday dawned cold and wet, with fog and a light drizzle ruining any outdoor plans. But that was okay, Jazz wasn't planning on going out today. She was going to head downstairs, grab a hot cup of tea, and start on her new case study. On her way down the hall, she discretely stuck her head into Danny's room, and shook her head when it became apparent that he wasn't inside. Bed empty, ceiling empty, covers down to throw out accidental invisibility, and he wasn't on the floor under the mattress. Sighing, she headed downstairs.

The older girl wasn't that surprised. Danny had probably spent the night decorating. The two siblings had had a talk about Ember's advice, and Jazz was anxious to meet this ghost. She seemed to relate to Danny in a way a human couldn't, and Jazz, for all her psychological backing, knew that her brother needed more than her to cope with his problems. No matter how much she knew, or how much she cared, her brother was fundamentally different from, well, everyone. It was a tough problem. She couldn't even begin to understand how lonely he must be, or just how fear from both sides of who he was might be affecting his self image. And what about his ghost powers? If all of the tests and information she had was correct, Danny would eventually be able to move the metaphorical mountains at will. Or maybe even the real mountains. Nobody knew, and there was no psychological precedent for how to nurture a fragile and still-developing psyche that was burdened with that kind of power. On one side, he might come to hate himself, and on the other, he might go mad with power and become irreparably insane. Keeping him on the narrow tightrope in between was a tough job, and Jazz just couldn't do it on her own anymore.

But there was the other problem, she thought as she sipped her tea. She was the only remotely qualified person Danny could trust to help him. At least until his secret became public, which nobody was ready for, least of all Danny. Jazz had been working herself to the bone trying to figure him out, and the cruel truth was that her findings might never be made public. How could they without blowing the whistle on his secret? With a sad smile, Jazz set down her mug and flipped open a simple large-ruled notebook.

'_Psychological Impact of Excessively Above-Average Personal Power on Developing Adolescent Psyche._

_Jazz Fenton_

_(No qualifications)'_

"Looks like a long read." Jazz jumped several inches off her seat and hastily closed the book.

"Mom! Y-you're up early. I thought you and dad took Saturdays off and let Danny or Valerie handle the ghosts." Maddie sat down across from her daughter and grabbed a mug of her own. After a brief and silent complaint at the lack of coffee, the older woman took a sip of her tea.

"Does Danny know you're using him as a test subject?" Jazz snorted.

"Come on mom. You and dad run tests on Danny all the time. He's so unique; we have to test him so we can find out if something's wrong. How else would we know? Besides," she muttered, "I can't help him using anything already known in psychology. His mental problems are as unique as he is. The only way I can help is by watching and guessing what's normal and what's not. Same as you." Maddie reached over and cupped her daughter's hand, her other lifting her mug once again.

"I wasn't saying you were wrong, I was asking if Danny knew. I know how hard you've been working to keep him together honey. We all do. It would be so much easier if there were other people like him to talk to. But it's too dangerous to use the portal like that. And who could you trust with that kind of power? I'm very proud of Danny for handling it like he has, but he's unique, and he'll have to stay that way." Jazz's look darkened. "What's wrong, hon? We all decided that a long time ago. You know how dangerous that accident was. The odds of it working again are very long."

"It's not that." She muttered. "It's just that that seems to be the position on both sides. Danny told me something yesterday that he left out before." Maddie frowned and leaned forward. "Apparently the Ghost Council is afraid of what he'll be able to do someday, so they've put a blanket ban on half ghosts. The secret of making them is supposed to be kept quiet and to quote the ghosts, 'hybrids must never be allowed to multiply.'"

Maddie was silent for some time, sipping her tea and setting it down. Then sipping again.

"Multiply how?" She asked finally.

"At all." Jazz answered. "Nothing. The ghosts are scared too, mom. So are the people on this side, and humans don't even know everything about Danny yet. He took it kind of hard."

"But you know what that means?" Her mother asked, voice shaking. "Maybe half ghosts can actually have living children after all." Jazz cocked an eyebrow.

"We haven't said anything to Danny yet, but your father and I looked into the possibility." She said, looking haunted. "Danny's young now, but someday he might want children, and we thought we should see. We tried different tests on any ectoplasm samples we had left over from our work with Danielle, using the machine we made to stabilize her structure to bond strands of his DNA into a human skin cell."

Maddie took another sip. "The cells kept multiplying for a few hours, but then they started showing erratic ghost powers. Each time a power activated, cells would burst, melt, and die. It's the same problem as with Danielle. The powers burned through the healthy human DNA like fire, and the cells couldn't cope. Any child Danny might have would have enough ecto-DNA to develop ghost powers and attributes, but not enough of the important strands for stability, and would die horribly."

Jazz stared at her mother. "That's horrible. What can we say to him?" Maddie quickly shook her head, eyes lighting up.

"No no, this is wonderful! I know the ban on multiplying is bad, but it's legal, not natural. The fact that they made it means there might be a way to fix the problem. Somehow."

"But what do I say to Danny? He doesn't seem to have made the multiply/kid connection, but he will." Maddie shot her daughter a comforting smile.

"Honey, I know you care, but your father and I are here, too. Let us handle this one when it happens, okay? You don't have to do it all on your own."

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Damon needed an aspirin. Or two. Or five. The shriek splitting the air was obviously his daughter viciously subduing another ghost. That made three in the last hour. Valerie was definitely upset about something. To be honest, a part of him wanted to shoot something too. 'Smith', or whoever he really was had been busy. A small crew of men had already been deployed to every single tower site, the heads of which refused to talk to him. He had yet to see their credentials, their background, and didn't even know most of their names. They all answered to Smith immediately, and Smith _had_ followed all of his instructions to the letter, but Damon didn't like middle men. What were they doing that they couldn't report to him about? They weren't his men, they were Smith's men. And who knew how long Smith would keep following his orders. Gray didn't like this one bit. Hence the giant aspirin bottle. Carefully unscrewing the cap, the head of Security reached in and grabbed a single pill. No sense going overboard; his headache wasn't _that_ bad.

BOOM!

Shattered glass littered the floor as Val landed on his office floor and disengaged her jet board.

"Sorry dad, I thought that glass wasn't getting put in for another week." His daughter said as she plopped down into a chair. Damon from the mess to his still-upset little girl and grabbed another pill.

"Is something wrong, hon?" He asked politely. Once Valerie had completely opened up about her 'hobby', the two had made a silent pact to treat this part of her life as professionally as possible. No family stuff. The huntress worked for the city, she couldn't be his daughter when she was working. Of course Damon never followed through with his promise, but it was important to try.

"What do you think about Phantom?" Val asked suddenly. Damon blinked a few times, caught off guard. After the incident at the docks, his daughter had gotten along with the ghost boy reasonably well. Too well, if you read the 'Spook'. Had the two fallen out?

"I think he's a very capable fighter." He answered carefully. "He works very hard to protect the town, and has my greatest respect." His daughter frowned.

"I mean…what do you think of _him_? Not what he does, but who he is."

"Why are you asking, Valerie? Did you two have a fight?" Val looked down.

"Not really. I just…I don't know if I can like him anymore." Damon raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't know you liked each other. I thought it was just a hunting thing between you two."

"That's not important!" Val said hurriedly. "I'm just confused, and needed to talk to somebody. I've heard a lot of stuff that I don't understand or know enough about. I know I can trust you, dad, so I'm asking you. What do you think about Phantom?"

Damon sat still for a while, absently resorting his papers. He knew he was stalling, but passed it off as waiting for the aspirin to kick in.

"I like him." He said at last. Val looked up, surprised. "He seems funny, in a way. All that fake confidence, the quips, the big show to make people respect him even though he doesn't seem to think he deserves it. He seems like some normal kid trying to have fun and kick butt at the same time. What's not to like?"

"He's a ghost." His daughter supplied.

"And you're a human." Damon retorted, slightly irritated by his daughter's attitude. "Does he hate you for that?" Val stared at her dad for a moment, taken aback by his reaction.

"No." She said at last. "But that's different. Ghosts are evil, dangerous, violent things. Humans aren't like that." Damon cocked an eyebrow.

"Really?" He asked, slightly bemused. "I think I've heard Phantom say on several occasions that not all ghosts are evil, and that he just wants to help. That doesn't sound to violent or evil to me. Yeah he's dangerous, but so are you, honey. And humans don't all smell like roses. You should just meet the guy I'm working with right now. And what about that Masters guy you started with? He was human, and didn't he rig your suit to blow up? That sounds pretty evil to me." Val scowled slightly.

"But all of those ghosts out there are evil. Why shouldn't Phantom be, too?"

"Honey, you're painting with a pretty broad brush there. Just because many of the ghosts you meet are evil doesn't mean they all are. Of course the invading ghosts are evil, they're invading! How many other ghosts have you actually met? You can't judge Phantom by what he is; you have to think about what he's done. But I can't help you with that; you'll have to work it out on your own." Frowning, Damon got up and headed out to inspect his new workers, leaving his daughter to think.

"Why?" His daughter asked. "Why can't you help me figure it out?" Damon paused in the doorway and shot his little girl a sad smile.

"That's how prejudice works, dear." He replied softly. "You have to work through it on your own, make up your own mind once and for all. Otherwise, you'll never be able to get past it."

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Deep in an underground complex, two generic suits shook hands. Things were going well. Bracing themselves, the two Guys in White walked down the hall towards a door. This door looked no different from any other. It bore no mark, no number, not sign. The only thing that identified it was the babbling screams coming from inside. Grimacing, the two men walked in.

"Operative K." The first one intoned. The jerking, spasming man on the padded table stopped thrashing momentarily and fixed them with an unsteady stare. "Let me out! I'm not crazy! I'm not!" One of the technicians nearby gave him a small dose of sedative, and K slipped back, woozy.

"He's fine when we're not treating him, but his altered memories refuse to correct themselves. We've tried medicines for amnesia, Alzheimer's, even _schizophrenia_, but nothing's working. And the side-effects," he added, gesturing to the restraints, "aren't always pleasant."

"So there's no chance he'll be able to tell us more about Phantom?"

"None. I'm sorry; I know it's your case now. We'll increase his dose to see if that helps." K gave a weak moan and thrashed about at that last, eyes wide and terrified. "We can only hope that no permanent damage is done getting that information. He's perfectly fine now without meds, but if we keep pushing…" The doctor shrugged. "Still, I suppose one can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs." K thrashed about again, but the others were ignoring him.

"Hmm. Said the second agent. Well there are other sources. Perhaps we can persuade the Fentons to-"

"Not the Fentons!" Shouted K, shooting up against the restraints. "Stay away from the Fentons! Stay away from the Fentons! Stay…away…from…" The man's eyes rolled back and he collapsed back onto the table. The doctor removed the quick-dosing mini-gun from his neck and apologized profusely to the two senior agents. Both of them passed it off as nothing and took their leave.

"Not the Fentons, huh?" Asked the first one. "Now why would Phantom program _that_ into the agents?"

"Yes," supplied the other, "we really must pay them a visit."


	9. Betrayals

Hi!

Okay, this one IS on time, and I love it sooooo much! I definitely see the endgame plot coming together flawlessly in my poor overcooked mind. Huzzah!

Okay, first a special shout to several people. Thank you livinglife for using my suggestion in your story 'Matchmaker Matchmaker'. I loved it! Next, Epona had a theory reguarding the source of the 'Spook' that while incorrect was very interesting and original. So I worked in a neat little disclaimer in this chapter. Also, your recommended 'ghost shrink' makes a house call, though you might regret suggeting it. Much love to Chaos Dragon for making this a fave among faves, or whatever you want to say. And SevenStar, I know you haven't reviewed stuff, but if you're still working on that comic (EEE! Someone's doing art based on my stuff! Yay!) then you deserve as much love and adoration as I can give.

Also, props to the PlayStation 3 for having the CREEPIEST COMMERCIAL EVER!

Right, and love to all reviewers great and small: The Only On3, Tornada Silverwind, BarnOwl93, acosta parez jose ramiro, TexasDreamer01, hermie-the-frog, Chaos Dragon, BratCat, Unrealistic, DP fan, FanFictionist, egyptianqueen777, bluename, Airgirl Phantom, The Fluff Ghost (I LOVE THE LENGTH OF YOUR LAST FEW REVIEWS!!), Queen S of Randomness, Epona Harper, Meagainsttheworld, and Diamond Raider. Thank you, all of you. Blessings upon ye.

To those of you who are new to the story, or feel a bit anti-review-ish, drop me a line please. :D I love reviews. Any and all reviews. No pressure, I just like to hear how things are going from as many viewpoints as possible. Thanks!

This chapter is for all of you who realize how kick-...butt Sam is and resent how little glory time she's had on the show.

Peace Out, Y'all!

HiddenAuthor

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Chapter 9 – Betrayals

Sam took a deep steadying breath, centered herself, and let the air out. Slowly, and with the grace of much practice, she diligently went through a long and comprehensive series of stretches. Working her arms around and jogging in place to warm up her tired muscles, the young Goth looked once more at the large room with satisfaction. Although she hated the arrogance, indifference, and hypocrisy that too often went with it, she had to admit that ridiculous wealth did have its advantages.

The entire floor was padded in thick mats, with gymnastic and exercise equipment all over the outer walls. Half of the center was a large open space for general practice, and the other half had been rigged for a…more intense workout. Her parents had been surprised when she asked for a small personal gym facility, but the renovations to the manor had only taken three weeks. And a little bonus from her allowance had given her some great 'extras' her parents didn't need to know about. Yes, being obscenely rich could be a good thing. If only she could get out of those political dates her parents planned to force on her. Scowling at their stupid money-driven schemes, Sam quickly pushed a button on a nearby remote and tossed it a safe distance away. 'Morbid Anti-Social Youth' began blaring from the full surround-sound speaker system up near the ceiling.

That did the trick. Between the death metal, her DP workout shirt, and thoughts of her parents, Sam had never been so pumped and willing to kill.

"Run!" She shouted. Immediately, ghost-shaped targets began randomly popping out of hidden slots in the walls, floor and ceiling. But Sam was ready for them.

A swinging bar flew out of a rising 'ghost' pillar, bent on tripping her up. Not missing a beat, Sam took a flying leap over the bar, turned into a sideways hand spring and spiraled upside down into a roundhouse, knocking the head off the top and coming to rest on the palms of her hands. Spotting her next victim, she bent her elbows and turned her fall into a summersault, rolling underneath a second spinning bar to deliver a swift one-two punch at the target, jumping at the last possible moment as the bar completed another spin without even looking back to see it. Another target appeared ahead of her, so Sam placed her palms on top of the pummeled pole and vaulted over it, doing a series of flips to carry her through the third danger zone, ripping the target off its supports barehanded. The three poles dropped, replaced with six robotic opponents forming a circle around her, which immediately began swinging several artificial arms and legs. Shifting from block to block in a series of fluid motions, Sam managed to deflect most of the blows and protect her critical areas, occasionally getting in a return hit. Fifteen minutes later, all six were retreating back into their storage compartments.

The three spinning targets were down, along with the group attack simulator. Now things got fun. From the ceiling dropped five individually programmed robot ghosts, swinging any number of fake appendages and soaring any which way throughout the room. Grinning, Sam watched as two green pillars rose from the ground and popped open, releasing two Fenton Anti-Creep sticks. After all, what fun were lasers?

With a vicious glare at the flying robot ghosts, Sam grabbed a bat in each hand and ran towards them swinging.

"Take that ghost! Nobody messes with Sam F-Manson!"

She fumbled for a moment, slightly red, then grinned and kept going. It was the bats that made her slip. Just the bats. And maybe the exercises she was performing. Wealth aside, the thing about this room she was proudest of was what she did in it. Everything about ghost fighting that wasn't always completely hers, she had learned from Mrs. Fenton for free, just because the older woman cared. Smiling, Sam raised the stupidly named bat and swung for all she was worth. One of the robots blew up.

"HA!"

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"HA!"

A dark shadow with vicious glowing eyes crashed into the side of large commercial building and sank to the ground, panting heavily. The dark figure glared up hatefully at the unusually serious and intense ghost boy.

"Had enough, Spectra?"

Another green blast shot out, missing the leaping lady ghost by inches. Quickly recovering, the demented shrink flew up behind Danny and gripped his shoulders tightly in her claw-like hands. Phantom immediately began struggling for his freedom, but she remained intractable and impossible to strike from her perch.

"No where near it!" She howled gleefully, her special powers settling over her victim in waves. "How could I? Your doubts, your fears, they're delicious! Still no idea what you are, no place among humans or ghosts, feared and hated by everyone! Look at you," she cooed, "it's no wonder Valerie hates you." Danny began faltering in midair, sinking beneath the onslaught of the misery the sick creature both created and fed upon.

"Shut up." He said through gritted teeth, shaking slightly as he thrashed in her grip.

"It's true, you know." She whispered softly in his ear, the slight clammy pressure of her breath sending goose bumps flowing all over the ghost boy's body. "She hates you. She thinks you're an evil ghost. Worse, a freak! Just like I always said." The dark woman chuckled darkly.

"Shut up." He repeated miserably, flailing weakly as he hovered, trying desperately to dislodge her. "That's not true. You're lying, trying to mess with my head. Get off me!"

"I am not." She responded frankly, digging her nails in deeper and clinging tight. "You know I'm not. You know just like I do that everyone is afraid of you. You're a scary, dangerous new creature. Not a human, not a ghost, nobody in the whole world who can understand or really accept you. Or love you." Danny's fiercely pinched eyes shot open, solid pupil-less green. Spectra's hands froze solid up to the elbows and shattered.

"Shut Up!" He screamed, reaching behind to grab the stunned spirit and fling her to the ground. Every window within twenty feet of impact shattered. But charged as she was from the 'feeding', Spectra was up and fighting in seconds. Both ghosts shot through the air firing ecto-beams at each other with all the force they could muster, spinning and dodging in an aerial dogfight that drew the gazes even of the fleeing pedestrians.

Dee-da-Dee-da-Deeee, da-Dee, daa-da-Deeee-Deeee!

Danny pulled up short in surprise at the eerily catchy ring tone coming from his waistband pouch. Taking advantage of the situation, Spectra launched him into the concrete. Wincing under the strain, Danny pulled out the phone as he shot back up into the air and pressed it between his right ear and shoulder, trying as best he could to compensate in his dogfight.

"What!" He demanded shortly. There was a long pause, during which Danny got hit twice, deflected five shots, and blasted Spectra in the center of her back, returning the concrete favor.

"…Hey, Danny."

"Tucker?" He asked incredulously, somehow finding it in him to be surprised despite his physical _and_ mental beating. "I'm kinda busy right now." He said, blasting at the offending shrink. Property damage was shooting up by the second, but she was still far too strong to get caught in the thermos's traction field.

"Have you heard anything from Val yet?" Danny's eyes narrowed and the ghost boy exerted visible effort to stop himself from accidentally blowing up the phone.

"No." He said shortly. "Please stop calling to ask, Tuck. This is the fifth time today, and I'm fighting ghosts. We'll talk later, okay?!" Taking aim, Danny shot off another blast, but somehow managed a ball of green goop. It missed the equally nonplussed Spectra, and a second attempt at the strange attack failed. Shrugging mentally, Phantom returned to his usual tricks, scoring hits on the arms, face, and another to the back. She was definitely slowing down. If he could just hang up…

"Sorry dude, but she's not talking to me. I'm worried."

"Well try Sam's!" He shouted in exasperation as he was hit yet _again_ because of the distracting phone call.

"I did. I even said sorry about what I said yesterday!"

"Try again!"

"Dude, you have some pretty dangerous and scary ghost powers, but when it comes to who I'm more afraid of, Sam wins hands down. I'll stick with calling you." A blast knocked Danny backward into a nearby building. He bounced off, crashed into the street, and was run over by a passing truck.

_That_ did it! A brief flare of energy turned the phone to slag. Free of further interruptions, Danny finished off Spectra in a few seconds, first multiplying into three and then teleporting around her to do a joint ecto-blast. Breathing heavily, the ghost boy took a moment to shake off his enemy's 'help' and message the tread marks out of his back.

"Now where'd Bertrand run off to?" He asked aloud, looking up and down the street. "After that little chat, I _really_ want to hit something."

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"Please don't hurt me!" A charged ecto-blaster lowered marginally. Intense eyes gazed through red lenses at the cowering ghost.

"I don't want to hurt you. Tell me what I want to know, and you can go free, ghost. Where is he?"

"I don't know! He doesn't usually make friends with ghosts." The gun began charging again.

"Hold it, Sweetcakes!"

Jazz froze mid-threat and turned disbelievingly towards the floating ghost. "Ember?"

"Could there be two ghosts this hot?" The singer made poet asked. "It's Jazz, right? The psycho sister."

"Psychologist" Jazz corrected absently.

"Not from where I'm standing." Ember shot back, gesturing towards the cowering ghost. "That ghost's a harmless assistant of Ghost Writer's. He can't even form a body in the human world. And here you are trying to redecorate his face." Jazz flushed slightly, and stowed the gun on her back holster.

"I wasn't going to hurt him, I swear! I'm just a little stressed." Ember quirked an eyebrow.

"I sure hope so." She answered. "Danny has you pegged as a pretty cool cucumber. Says the nicest things about how calm and together you are." Pride and shame warred in the older girl, but the end result for either was a full red blush. "Not that it's my business, but what brings you into the Ghost Zone? With weapons?"

"My brother." Jazz said shortly. Noting her distraction, the poor assistant ghost took off at top speed. "I want answers, and I want them right now. The Ghost Council's put a ban on half ghosts, Vlad's out and doing _something_, and Valerie's gone completely nuts!" The ghost girl grinned.

"Yeah, there seems to be a lot of that going around." She answered dryly. But Jazz wasn't paying attention. The girl's eyes were locked on something the other ghost had dropped.

"The 'Spook'?" She asked allowed, eyes widening. In half a second Ember was the giant gun's new target. "Ghost Writer is writing the 'Spook'? The paper that's made my brother a laughingstock and ruins his reputation on a daily basis?"

Ember burst out laughing. Taken aback, Jazz let the gun die again.

"Are you kidding? Ghost Writer doesn't _write_ it. He _reads _it. His library has a copy of every good piece of fiction ever made, and the 'Spook' is gold! It's the funniest thing to hit the Ghost Zone since that 'Exorcist' movie!" The artist snorted. "_Phantom, I am your father!_ Seriously, you don't think Ghost Writer could be a bit more original?" Grinning, Ember reached down and stuffed the paper in her pocket. "I'll get this to him later. In the meantime, is there anything I can do to help out? I don't really care about the ban thing, but Vlad's way creepy. Anything I can do to lock up that bozo is time well spent."

"I'm looking for Clockwork's place. Its right through Danny's lair, but it's not like I could go through _there_. So I'm kind of lost." Ember grinned.

"No problem," she said, "but could you lose the bazooka? It's kind of distracting." Blushing yet again, Jazz hastily stowed away the gun and followed the ghost girl, bobbing slightly on the unfamiliar new jet board. Still, it was a lot more convenient than the Specter Speeder, and Val had been more than willing to share her blueprints after discovering that Vlad was…well, evil.

"So," she said, after fifteen silent, boring minutes, "I know you and Danny have this thing going on, and I wanted to say…thanks." Ember shrugged.

"For what?" She called back. "Telling him the truth? He's a ghost, sister, even if he's still technically human, too. It's who he is. I didn't really shrink him or anything, I just told him to get over himself, and talked about what makes me feel better."

"Still, I want to understand." Jazz answered. "Could you help me?" A split second later, Ember was right in her face, hair flaming out around her head and teeth bared in a rabid snarl. A second after that, Jazz held a charged gun in her hands. Ember immediately calmed and turned away with a sad look.

"That's what you don't understand." She called back. "Would you have pulled a gun on a human for getting in your face? No." She answered. "You'd probably yell, but you wouldn't go that far. People are scared of ghosts. It comes with the territory. And until you've been feared and rejected just for being who and what you are, there's no way you can understand." The girl rolled her eyes. "Ghosts hate humans because they fear us before they try to know us, and humans fear ghosts because we hate them before we try to know them. It's dumb, but it is what it is. Danny's the only guy I've met that can relate to both sides of the problem. Doesn't help us help him though."

A large castle stood up ahead, giant gears turning slowly in the walls. Gulping slightly, Jazz left her guide to return to her 'lessons' and knocked on the door. A few moments later, Clockwork, master of Time, opened the door and favored her with a small smile.

"Jazz. Can I help you? I trust you know about my…situation." Jazz nodded sympathetically.

"It's kind of dumb, if you ask me. The Council letting Vlad go and at the same time threatening to punish _you_ if he causes trouble. It's like they want you to lose out or something." Clockwork nodded tiredly as they sat down in his study.

"I assure you, the Ghost Council is not inclined to help Vlad. They are terribly afraid of half ghosts; there's no way they would do anything to help him."

"Or Danny." Jazz added bitterly. Clockwork nodded again.

"Or Danny. But may I ask why you are here?"

"Don't you know already?"

"No." Clockwork answered, sounding slightly surprised at the novelty. "Since I am prohibited in using my powers at the moment, I have very little idea as to why you are here."

"I want answers!" Jazz burst out. "Vlad has to be up to something, his freedom is on the line! And why is the 'Spook' paper making Danny look so bad? There's never anything good about him in that thing. And how could the Council do this? Do they hate Danny that much?"

"Ah." The time ghost answered simply. "While I don't know the future at all right now, I assure you Vlad is active. How, I do not know, but he will not sit idly by and allow me to recapture him in six month's time. What little I know from my viewings of the time stream before my punishment will not help in the slightest; there were far too many possibilities. I can only recommend you stay on your guard. I've known about the 'Spook' paper for some time, but my current situation prevents me from speaking at length about it. There were two possible sources behind that paper at my last check, and I could not say which it is. I can tell you that there is a very serious reason behind the negative publicity, but beyond that…"

He sighed. "You know, when I first gained my powers, I hated them." He confessed. "It's not easy to know so much, but to be sure of almost nothing. I have to play a god to my peers, but I'm no more certain of anything than you are, and my mistakes are often catastrophic. But if I recall, you've been studying this topic for some time now." Jazz nodded soberly. "After you finish your paper, I would very much enjoy reading it." The older girl didn't really know how to respond to that, so the two sat in silence for some time.

"You still haven't talked about the Council." She said awkwardly. Clockwork scowled slightly.

"Them." He said shortly. "They've been asking me to join them for millennia, but I only agreed about a century ago, when Vlad and Danny's existences became probable. The rest of them, lacking in foresight, would have immediately had them both destroyed. But they have so much potential! Even Vlad, for all his…flaws, has the potential to do great good for the world. But the others remain afraid." He sighed. "In truth, I think they used the Dan fiasco as an excuse to eject me for a while, so they could try and get rid of the two of them unopposed. Not all of them favor destruction, of course, but they all want the 'threat' removed. They know the current climate in the human world. It wouldn't take much. And as an added bonus, if they succeed, they can use that to justify my permanent expulsion from the council and prevent me from going back to fix things." Jazz stared for a moment.

"You really do care about Danny, don't you?"

"Very much." Clockwork admitted. "And in a very unique way. You know him as he is. I know what he is _and_ what he might someday be. There's so much good he can do." The ghost's eyes cleared as he came back to reality. "But that's beside the point. I really can't help you more than that." Jazz nodded and moved to get up, but Clockwork quickly gripped her arm and pulled her close. The time ghost looked very nervous.

"Tell your mother to look at Lab Security Tape 1105041400. And you didn't hear that from me." Looking a bit confused, Jazz nodded and rushed out of the castle. Clockwork sat very still and listened for approaching councilors. Hours passed.

"Whew." He said, shaking slightly. "I can't believe I actually got away with that. Still, I suppose I didn't technically use my powers. I just broke all the _other_ rules." Chuckling nervously, the time ghost floated through his lair, checking his clocks and watching Jazz and Danny on the time window. It was going to be a long week.

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Valerie rubbed her tired eyes and opened the door. Tucker was inside in half a second. He looked ready to yell, but once his eyes took in Val in her pajamas, he ground to a red-faced stuttering halt.

"What, Tucker?" She asked tiredly. Her boyfriend immediately regained some of his temper.

"What, Tucker?" He repeated incredulously. "You haven't talked to me for four days, or answered my calls, or done _anything_, and you ask 'what, Tucker'? Talk to me!" He shouted. Val's eyes widened slightly at the outburst. "I know you're confused, but you could talk!"

"You're his friend." She answered softly. "I didn't want to make you uncomfortable." Tucker frowned at that, and she pressed on. "I talked to my dad about it, though. He said some…interesting things. I've been thinking about it ever since."

"And?" Tucker prompted gently. Val shrugged.

"I don't know." She answered honestly. "I liked Danny. I think I still do. It's just really confusing. He's such a cool guy. The only reason I stopped dating him was because I wanted to protect him." The huntress laughed hollowly. Tucker grimaced.

"I…didn't really need to hear that." He mumbled.

"Oh, no, I like you too, Tucker!" Val hastened to add. "I'm just saying everything Danny and I have been through has been based on a secret. A lie."

"Well," he answered, "you didn't exactly tell him you were the red huntress, did you?"

"I know." She answered. "I thought of that already. It's not really fair to think like this, I just can't help it. And I've been so angry at ghosts for so long. I don't know if I can get past the fact that he is one. Or close enough to one, anyway. I know I should like him and accept him. I know that he's a good person. It's just hard for me to not hate him for being a ghost. That's what dad made me realize yesterday." She looked up, eyes hard and determined. "But I know something else too. I still care about him, no matter what he is, and there's no way I'm letting something stupid like what he is get in the way of that! I may not be able to like him now, but I trust him. And I'll keep working with him and spending time with him until I can like him again!"

Tucker took a moment to get that to register, then grinned.

"Danny's gonna love this." And somehow Val was smiling back.

"I'll bet." She said. "And…I think I need to see him alone first. I, said some stuff on Friday that I'm not proud of. I'd like to say…sorry, and stuff." She took a deep breath. "And I'm sorry for not talking to you and Sam. I needed time."

"It's cool, Val." Tucker said, smiling. "Let's go find Danny."

"Not yet." Val said grinning. "Want to grab a bit at the Nasty Burger first?" Tucker nodded. "Great. Let me just get out of my PJ's." Tucker immediately turned bright red.

Laughing at his embarrassment, Val walked briskly back to her room and locked the door loudly, so he wouldn't misunderstand, no matter how funny that was. Things were definitely changing for the better.

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In a newly constructed sound-proof basement beneath a nearly finished tower, a snippy little green ghost fumed from inside a phase-proof container.

"We'll ask you once again, ghost." Intoned Mr. Smith, negligently fingering a small switch. "Who is behind the 'Spook'? Is it your partner, Miss Spectra?"

Bertrand stuck out his tongue. Smith flipped the switch. Bertrand screamed.


	10. Lies

IMPORTANT!!!!

Due to circumstance beyond my control (that is, my own bumbling stupidity) the date of Sam's party and the completion of the Amity Park Ghost Shield will be moved up to the end of the current story week. Why? Well, because if I didn't I'd have two choices: 1, Create a week worth of filler and subplot that would distract from the story and somehow keep people from figuring things out about each other the ENTIRE time. Or 2, have a week where nothing happens, even though Vlad and GIW are increadibly motivated to speedy...whatever they're doing...of Danny Phantom. So, since both those options are really really stupid, I'm editing the story so that the big finale is moved up a week. This will not shorten the story. I just made a bad length call on the date before. Sorry. I'll fix it after I'm done. For now, just read this and ignore the previous two-week thing. Thanks. Also, the website I reference is either fake or something else. I'm not endorsing it, just using the address as a joke. And I don't own it.

Okay, now HI!

Yes, I know this one is a day late, but if you read the above section (and you should) you'll understand that I had a major decision to make before I could write this. I hope this works. It should...

Love and Adoration to all reviewers: Epona Harper, Meagainsttheworld, egyptianqueen777, bluename, The Fluff Ghost, BratCat, DP fan, Diamond Raider, Pieling, BarnOwl93, cordia, Unrealistic, Egyptian Ghost Kitty, Queen S of Randomness 016, SevenStar, FanFictionist, Chaos Dragon, Adran06, AirGirl Phantom, hermie-the-frog, and ShiroAndFubuki. You guys rock!!

To those reading and not reviewing, or to the new converts (muahaha), drop me a line, ya? I love reviews. All reviews. Good, bad, or in between. I can be a bit spastic and weird with my responses, but I really do appreciate all of them, and I've never had a review I didn't like to read. Just be honest. I'll write back.

Finally, this chapter does NOT show what is on the tape. That'll come up in the next one. For those who don't know, I'm offering a cookie to anyone who can tell me what's on the tape before I write it up. Please use a PM and not a review, I don't want the surprise ruined. I'm sure someone will get it; it's just a matter of time.

Ciao,

HiddenAuthor

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Chapter 10 – Lies

"So in conclusion, Danny Phantom is a true Amity Park hero, and is way too cool and handsome to be in love with that gross huntress girl." Smiling, Paulina took down an elaborate photo chart cobbled from the most 'flattering' of her private shrine collection. Danny shuffled off behind her, incredibly red-faced. Sam and Val seemed a bit red as well, though likely more from rage than embarrassment. Looking at his friends for support, the only disappointment Danny found was Tucker, who seemed to be having some kind of humor-induced fit.

"…Thank you, Danny and Paulina, for that very unique presentation. While I'm not sure a tabloid can be considered a real newspaper, I didn't specify last week, so…B+." Mr. Lancer gave the perky girl a tired nod, and turned towards his next pair. "Now, Dash and Kwan will be presenting their paper, about the symbolism of last week's editorial cartoon." Smiling, the pair pulled up a large poster of a knocked-out elephant with red boxing gloves staring up dazedly at a grinning blue-gloved donkey.

"Do you think blushes can stick?" Danny muttered over Tucker's suppressed laughter.

"I don't know." She hissed back, eyes lit up with an intense glow Danny didn't think his ghost form could manage. "But she dies for this." Neither of them saw exactly what Val did to her boyfriend, but Tucker's laughter abruptly stopped.

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"I can't believe she used those…_pictures_." Danny said, shuddering. Tucker grinned from across the table.

"I just want to know where she _got_ those." He said lewdly. "I mean how many times has your shirt actually been torn off anyway? Where did they come from?"

"Website called TorsoPhantom." Sam answered absently from over her meal, then froze. Danny shot her a sideways look. From across the table, Val cleared her throat loudly as she sat down. Bracing himself, Danny set questions aside for later and turned towards the huntress.

"Okay Val. Why did you want to talk with me _here_?" Danny asked, pointing out the cafeteria full of students. "Don't you think this is kind of private?" Valerie shrugged.

"I wanted Tucker to be here for this, and I thought you'd want Sam to be here too." She answered simply. "Since she's grounded this was the only way I could think of. Besides, as much as they like you, I don't think they'd let you lie to me, and I'm not about to chance that. I want to like you again, Danny, but I'm going to need help." Danny deflated slightly at that, but nodded his acceptance.

"All right. What do you want to know?"

"First, were you telling the truth when you said you didn't know what you are? You're really not a ghost?" Danny closed his eyes for a second and rubbed the bridge of his nose in irritation, but after a deep breath he was visibly calmer.

"Yes. I don't know what I am. I don't really like to think about it. I like to think I'm still human, though. Technically, the lab accident mutated me and gave me ghost powers, but I'm still _me_. I'm different, but I'm still a person. And I really do want to help people." Val pursed her lips for a second, and nodded.

"Okay. I'll ask your parents more about the 'accident' thing later if I think I have to, but that's enough about that for now. You told me once that you owned Amity Park. What did you mean by that?"

"The ghosts say I own it." Danny said quickly. "I asked Clockwork about it after everything settled down a few months ago, and he explained it to me. Most ghosts like to make their homes in the Ghost Zone. But some like to live here. To keep the ghosts on this side from fighting, some ancient ghosts used some major powers to set up this system of rules. Since I live in Amity Park, it's 'mine'." He answered, using air quotes where appropriate.

"But why would ghosts fight about where to live? There's plenty of space over here." Danny hesitated for a second, but answered the question.

"All the ghosts want places with lots of people." He said. "Ghosts on Earth need human emotion to survive. It's food. That's why ghosts scare people all the time. When they get scared, they feel more, and the ghost can feed on that fear to get stronger and keep their bodies together. So they always fight about who owns what human." He said distastefully. Val had gone slightly pale.

"You…you don't…_feed_ on us, right?" She asked nauseously. Danny winced, a little pale himself.

"Not on purpose." He finally said shakily. "It's sort of automatic, like breathing. I'm doing it all the time, even if I don't want to. It isn't hurting you," he added hastily, "and I'm not trying to scare any of you like ghosts do. Since I still have a human body, I get a lot of energy from food and stuff. Oh," he added ruefully, fishing in his backpack, "and this, too." He quickly pulled out his 'medicine' thermos and screwed off the cap, giving Val a good look.

"What is that stuff?" She asked softly, eyes wide as she saw that it _glowed_.

"A supplement, like I told you." Danny said simply, before quickly chugging the vile stuff and shuddering. "It's ectoplasm. Ghost food, I guess. If I didn't take it, I'd have to scare people, live in the Ghost Zone, or starve." He added bleakly. "And the more powerful I get the more of the junk I have to take."

"How powerful…will you get?" Val asked hesitantly. Danny chuckled helplessly as he shoved the thermos back into his backpack.

"That's the million dollar question." He answered, and Val raised an eyebrow at the fear in his own voice. "I don't know. If it gives you a hint, the Ghost Council is made up of some of the most powerful ghosts to ever exist, and I give _them_ the creeps. Lots of ghosts would kill to have the kind of power I do, but _I don't want it_. Try explaining that to ghosts, though. Or humans." He added sadly. "They don't seem too comfortable around me either."

Valerie nodded agreement for a second, and then remained silent. Danny lifted an eyebrow.

"Can I ask you a question?" Val nodded.

"What made you change your mind so fast? Not that I'm complaining, I just thought you'd take a little longer to come around." The huntress sat still for a while.

"I haven't changed my mind." She answered. "Not exactly anyway. But my dad and I had a talk this weekend. He said some things…well, I think I figured out why I'm so mad at you, and I don't want any part of it. Hating you because you're a ghost is just stupid. I know that now. If I can get past that and I still hate you, fine. But I'm not going to hate you for no good reason, Fenton. I'm a better person than that." At that, Danny actually managed a smile.

"I know that." He said simply.

"I've been really confused lately." Val continued, frowning. "First finding out about you, then Vlad calling, an-"

"Vlad?" Danny asked sharply, his eyes flickering briefly. "What about Vlad?" Valerie stared for a second at his eyes, then flushed.

"First tell me what _really_ happened to him in September." She pressed. "He told me you did something terrible to him because he figured out your secret. He's lied to me before, so I'm not siding with him without a real good reason. But _something_ happened."

"Err…" Danny paused, not really sure how to proceed. "Um, Vlad worked with my mom and dad in college." He said lamely. Val raised an eyebrow as Tucker discretely edged closer to her and lifted a hand for support.

"Yeah, so?"

"So," the ghost boy cleared his throat for a second, looking at Sam for support. All he got was a helpless smile and a shrug. "They, uh, built the first ghost portal together. And, um, something went wrong." Val's eyes narrowed a bit.

"Wrong? Wrong how?"

"'Danny' wrong." Tucker said gently. His girlfriend stared for a second, mouth gaping.

"No. No way." She said, pulling back from the table and bumping against Tucker's waiting arm. "One time maybe. But _twice_? You can't be serious!"

"We are." Sam said simply. "Danny Fenton. Danny Phantom. Vlad Masters…"

"Vlad Plasmius." Val said in horror. "I…but it makes sense." She said quietly. "They both disappeared at the same time in September. And they both showed up at the same time when the Ghost King showed up. He gave me that ring. Said it was a hunter's ring, but then it was a ghost ring. You're not lying?" She asked quietly. All three shook their heads. Val stared off into space for a good minute, letting all the hints fall into place in her head.

"Oh boy." She sighed, plopping her head into her hands. "This whole time he was using me. Telling me to fight ghosts like you. But he was a ghost. Or, whatever you are, anyway." She finished, forgetting her recent attempt at politeness in her distress. Danny winced slightly, but pressed on. This was important.

"Look. I know that's a big thing to hear, but what about Vlad?" He pressed. Val was quite for a while, but Tucker's gentle pressure eventually helped.

"He called me." She answered dully. "And asked for my help. He told me that now that I knew the truth about you, I'd need to work extra hard to protect the town. He told me you were using me, and you think of people here as cattle, and…" She trailed off as Danny's eyes lit up the table. "And he said you were really scary when you got mad." She finished quietly. Danny blinked for a second as that last comment registered, and quickly dropped the glow, looking a bit chagrined.

"I know you're shocked." Sam said. Val laughed hollowly. "But…you seem to be taking it better this time." She continued bracingly. Valerie shook her head.

"A ghost-thing I can actually hate and call evil for a good reason." She muttered. "What's not to like?" Her eyes narrowed. "But just you wait, I'm gonna make him pay for this." Suddenly Danny's eyes shot up.

"Val." He said, eyes slightly larger than usual. "Call him back and say yes."

"But I don't _want_ to help that lying, creepy, sleezeball ghost!" Val spat, fuming.

"Yeah," Danny said back, a genuinely scary grin starting to form on his face, "but Vlad doesn't know that."

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If anything, Skulker and Technus's choice to merge together only made them more annoying. But Vlad had to admit that the ridiculous creature was still useful.

"You're sure this footage is accurate?" Vlad asked curtly. Skulker nodded his head in affirmation, but Technus scowled.

"Are you suggesting my data is faulty?" He growled in his nasally voice. The hunter ghost 'discretely' punched himself in the stomach. "Ow!"

"Well, provided it is authentic, I think it might be worth something after all." Masters remarked in an offhand manner. Truth be told, this information could give him an infinitely larger window of activity. His plan was absolutely flawless, except for one small problem that he'd thus far been unable to fix. This information might work. Not that he'd tell these two imbeciles. They'd want more money.

"One more thing." Skulker said as Plasmius started to fly off. "Is it true what the ghosts are saying? That you're going to be frozen in time in just five months?"

"Of course not." Vlad answered condescendingly, and then smiled quietly. "Thanks for that tape. You two fight well together."

"He still beat us." Grumbled Technus.

"Oh, I don't think that will be a problem for long." Masters answered quietly, and flew off for home.

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Danny strolled through the front door of his house, feeling better than he had in days. Val was talking to him, he was going to know what Vlad was up to, and he'd bribed Tucker into bringing down that embarrassing webpage. He was walking on air, his mood only slightly dampened by the effort of making sure that stayed a metaphor. Good moods seemed to do that to him. Grinning, he quickly dropped off his books upstairs and came back down for some floating cookies.

"Daniel Fenton." Good mood gone.

Bracing himself, Danny turned and locked gazes with a pair of sunglasses. Sunglasses that were perched on a very serious face, attached to a very white suit. The man wearing both glasses and suit consulted his watch and then returned his gaze to the very flustered half ghost.

"According to my watch, it's 2:45." He said in that creepy military monotone. Nodding, Danny hid his shaking hand in the cookie jar.

"I…uh…get out of school early." He stuttered, all the while casing the room for hidden ghost mines or whatever these bozos had now. The man's expression didn't change.

"We know that. We're with the government." He said calmly. "Your parents are out. We want to know how long they'll be."

"I don't know." Danny answered carefully, grabbing a cookie. Suddenly he froze. "Wait a minute. How'd you get in here?" A second white suit stepped through into the kitchen to stand by his partner.

"This place was built with a government grant." He said smoothly. "We have a key."

Danny made a mental note to check if that was legal and went through the motions of offering them cookies. Both declined. Fed up with feds, Danny decided on the blunt approach.

"Why are you here?" He asked. Both men exchanged glances, then motioned into the living room. Carefully cupping his cookies upside down, Danny followed, once again scanning for ghost weapons. A loud bang from behind heralded his parent's return.

"Danny! Good to se- hold it!" Jack's beaming face darkened. "Who the heck are you and what are you doing in my house?" As one the two agents stood and strode over to Danny's parents.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, I am agent M and this is my associate, agent S. We're with the Guys in White, special detail on a resident ghost. It calls itself Danny Phantom. We came here to ask you all some questions about it." Jack and Maddie's eyes deliberately looked anywhere but at Danny, who was busy digesting the 'it' comment. Though clearly unhappy, the couple was at a loss on how to safely get rid of the agents, so begrudgingly offered them a seat.

"Now." Started M. "I'm sure you're aware that Phantom's energy potential has risen at an alarming rate."

"Oh yeah." Danny muttered to himself.

"For this and…other reasons, our agency has deemed Phantom to be an imminent threat to national security." At this Maddie finally slipped and allowed a stray glance at her son, who'd paled slightly. "We've come here to question you about its behavior, to try and understand it better."

"Why us?" Jack asked brusquely.

"It 'lives' here, for one." S answered, using air quotes. "And for another, a former agent, agent K, seemed to suggest we visit. Last summer, Phantom invaded our base and did something to him. We still don't know what, but the man went completely insane." At this Jack stole a glance at Danny, who now looked visibly sick. "He started screaming to 'stay away from the Fentons'. We can only assume you know something it doesn't want us to find out."

"Something we'd like you to tell us." Concluded agent M.

"Well why don't you talk to Phantom?" Maddie suggested hesitantly. From behind the agents, Danny vigorously shook his head 'no'. "I'm sure he'd be willing to clear up this mess."

"We'd rather not interact sociably with it." S said calmly. "Neither of us wants to end up like K. We just want information. Something a pair of fine, upstanding, human ghost hunters like you can surely provide."

"For starters," said M, pushing forward a newspaper clipping. "Who's this ghost in the photo?"

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"What is this?" Damon asked coldly, gesturing towards his computer screen. Smith looked on coolly and crooked an eyebrow.

"What is what? Sir." He amended casually. Gray scowled and gestured at the 'ACCESS DENIED' window on his screen.

"That." He said. "This is _my_ system, Smith. As such, everything in this computer is mine. I don't like not being able to look at _my_ stuff, Smith. Fix it." Damon had run into wall after wall all day. He already had a major headache.

It had started simply enough. The local power company had accidentally sent the month's compound power bill for the shield to Damon's office instead of accounting. No big deal. But when Damon checked the information, he noticed an unusually large power drain in tower 22. When he asked the tower supervisor about it, he was told that they were testing a new experimental series of lasers. Lasers he had not cosigned an order for. Lasers that had been sent back before he could see them. When he asked to talk to a tester, he was told they had all been fired. Again, without his approval. He checked the employment record. He didn't have a copy on file. Which meant he'd never hired or interviewed any of them. He asked who had. Mr. Smith. Who'd ordered the lasers? Mr. Smith. Who'd shipped them back? Smith.

And now he was researching the infrastructure of tower 22 itself, to check for any irregularities. Damon was willing to bet something wasn't quite right. If the power company hadn't slipped up, he'd have never found out. By the end of the week, the shield towers would have two independent power sources. He knew about the solar panels covering the outer walls of all the towers. As for the other source…well he was sure _Smith_ knew.

Snarling at the irritating console and the irritating man beside the irritating console, Damon tried his administrative password.

'ACCESS DENIED'

"What's so special about tower 22 Smith?" Damon asked quietly. Mr. Smith didn't say a word. "Well? I have full access everywhere else." He quickly sent a request for an update on tower 4. "See? The only-"

'ACCESS DENIED'

"It looks like a major computer glitch." Smith answered smoothly.

"But I just accessed this tower an hour ago!" Damon shouted at the screen. Not only that, he'd tried hacking them, too. Nothing. And he was very, very good.

"We just updated the new security protocols." His 'assistant' said. "The ones that were designed to make sure computer ghosts like Technus could only control one tower at a time. The program might prevent administration from accessing towers remotely. Why not try visiting the tower? I'm sure it would work fine."

"I'll do that." Damon answered coldly. "And I'd like a look at those 'protocols' too. In case you didn't know, I'm a very capable programmer." Scowling at whatever Smith was up to – and he WAS up to something – Gray stomped out of the room and took off for tower 22. Smith watched him go without expression and calmly whipped out a cell phone.

"Mike, this is Smith." He said calmly. "Gray's coming for an inspection. Is the edited schematic ready to be uploaded?"

"Good. And get the real protocol uploaded as fast as you can." The normally still face twisted into a scowl. "I swear if this weren't so low key, that interfering fool would have disappeared by now."

"I know. And make sure the ghost is kept quiet. We don't want him finding the lab. We need it to assemble all the generators, and I'm _not_ about to explain to our superior how we lost _those_."

"Oh, really? Well I suppose the ghost won't be making any noise then. Yes, and at least we know the things _work_. Right Mike. Smith out."


	11. Informants

HI! (gir wave)

Okay, this is officially the shortest chappie in this whole story. But I'm not apologising: almost nothing happens on late Monday or Tuesday, but what does is WAY too important to just tack on top of Wednesday. If you get what I'm saying. The point is, more of the plot is revealed, plans are made, secrets told, etcetera. Which is how this chapter got its name. I will be honest, I was surprised that nobody figured out what was on that tape Clockwork mentioned. It really was 'Only a Matter of Time'. Or dates, at least. Well, that information is in this chapter, and I'm sure you'll see why it was so important. Also, I am still taking all bets on who's doing what plot in Amity Park and why. Let the theories fly! Hahaha!

Love and Candy to all reviewers, espicially Tornada Silverwind, who I somehow missed last time. Double candy for you. Thanks to: Meagainsttheworld, AirGirl Phantom, Queen S of Randomness 016, Diamond Raider, Unrealistic, FanFictionist, Epona Harper, Sasia93, BarnOwl93, The Fluff Ghost, egyptianqueen777, Adran06, Pieling, bluename, fan-girls2.0, BratCat, acosta parez jose ramiro, Horselvr4evr123, Chaos Dragon, hermie-the-frog, and once again to Tornada Silverwind. Thanks.

Also please note that I'm enabling Anonymous Reviews for the rest of the story. I just want to see what happens. If any of you reading this don't have an account, please drop me a line and let me know what you think. The more feedback I get on pros and cons, the better.

Toodles! I'm off to food. TO THE SNACK BAR!

HiddenAuthor

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Chapter 11 – Informants

Vlad played the footage again. The private Dalv lab he'd invaded for the next few months was hardly adequate for his research needs, but he supposed it would have to do. His Wisconsin home had been blown up, and he hadn't had the heart to rebuild his destroyed clone facility in Colorado. That loss was still painful. He'd been so _close_ to finally possessing the perfect son. A possession that he knew now he would never have.

There. He quickly switched to slow motion and gave the feed his full attention. The brief flicker, then…nothing. There was a knock on the door.

"Excuse me…sir." Came a hesitant voice. "I was told to tell you that…um…everything is going according to plan." Vlad kept his back to the insignificant little human and allowed a grin to cross his face for the first time that week.

"I know." He said, eyes never leaving the screen. "I'm just waiting on a call. You may go now."

Two hours later, a small radio device began to speak. Smiling triumphantly, Vlad casually picked up the communicator.

"Well hello there Valerie. What a pleasant surprise." He said cheerfully, the dark smirk never leaving his face. "So you've decided to stand up for your town after all? Excellent. Here's what I want you to do for me."

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"As you can see sir, everything is proceeding on schedule. We haven't had any setbacks since we set up. And we certainly aren't hiding anything." Mike flashed a dazzling smile at his boss. Damon nodded absently and typed in a long string of codes. Moments later, several programming windows popped up on screen, long lines of code flashing from one end to the other. The Amity Park Security chief spent several long minutes watching the information flow before deciding to comment.

"This isn't my schematic program." Mike faltered for a moment, but seconds later the smile was back.

"One of our technicians streamlined it." He replied smoothly. "There was redundant code in the original."

"You mean the stuff that let me double-check the information to make sure it was right?" Damon asked casually, closing the window and giving the obviously lying man his full attention.

"Perhaps you should take this up with Mr. Smith." He said calmly. "He signed all the approvals. I didn't have anything to do-"

"I'm asking you, Mike." Damon interrupted coldly. "You're in charge of this tower, not Smith. You work for me, not Smith. And this system belongs to me, _not Smith_. So I'm giving you two choices. You can tell me exactly what's going on here, or I can replace you with someone who will." Any semblance of a smile on Mike's face was now gone. The look he was giving Gray was making him more than a little nervous. In all his years as a security advisor, he'd run into countless desperate criminals. Punks like that didn't scare him. What scared him were the people he could tell were criminals, but _weren't afraid_, even when they were caught out. Their eyes always looked like that. What made this guy feel so safe?

"If you wish to fire me, that's your right." Mike said smoothly. "But I advise you to reconsider, Mr. Gray." Damon considered for all of two seconds.

"Get out of my tower."

Damon stayed long enough to see Mike out and swipe his passkey, and then took off as fast as he could for the Shield command tower. He'd let this go on for far too long. But some things were more important than a job. Besides, if trying to keep his job was allowing some outside group to take over the powerful weapon he'd been assigned to guard, he might as well quit right now.

Upon his arrival at command tower, Damon retired to his office and asked for Smith. The man was nowhere to be found. Scowling, the talented programmer began methodically dissecting the locks and false readings those traitors had pushed into _his_ system.

It was only half an hour before Montez gave him a call, telling him his services would no longer be necessary. Smith was now in charge of Amity Park Anti-Ghost Security.

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The entire Fenton family sat in front of the living room TV, mentally digesting everything the Guys in White said.

"Who was that K person, Danny?" Maddie asked her son. "And what really happened to him?" Danny shrugged as he leaned back in his seat, rubbing his temples.

"He was a Guys in White agent. This summer, he chased me Sam and Tucker across America as we tried to rescue you guys and their parents. Long story short, you guys were kidnapped, my secret got out worldwide, the Guys in White wanted to dissect me, and it took three days to sort everything out. After we did, I used a reality-changing gauntlet to wipe everyone's memories of what happened so nobody remembered my secret, then told K and his partner to leave my family alone. Then I destroyed the gauntlet so it wouldn't happen again."

"And the gauntlet made him crazy?" Jazz asked quietly. Danny shrugged, looking more than a little guilty.

"We don't know that for sure." Maddie said. "They might have been lying to get us to help them. But no matter what happened, you didn't do anything wrong Danny. You were trying to protect us."

"Yeah!" Jack said bracingly. "You could have just blown him up, but you didn't hurt him. You did the right thing." Danny nodded absently, though he did look marginally better.

"I guess." He said grudgingly. "I just wish he hadn't gotten hurt. Yeah he was a jerk, but he was only doing his job. I don't know how they found out I did it though." He said, confused. "I thought I wiped all the tapes." Jazz's eyes lit up.

"Oh, I forgot!" She said. "Clockwork gave me a message for you guys." Jazz flushed momentarily as she gained her family's undivided attention. "He wants us to watch Lab Security Tape 1105041400. Whatever that means." Maddie and Jack looked at each other in confusion.

"That tape's two years old." She said to her husband. "Why would he want us to watch that?" Jazz shrugged from her couch.

"He didn't say." The older girl replied. "I don't think he was supposed to tell us. Not that that seemed to stop him." Danny grinned.

"Alright." Jack said, and quickly headed to the basement. The others sat in confused silence for a few minutes before he came bounding back up with a dust-covered DVD case.

"Here it is." He said. "Lab footage for November fifth, 2004." Sitting back down, Jack began running the footage. After fast-forwarding through several hours of inactivity, he quickly hit play.

"Hey, that's me!" He said enthusiastically. Jack Maddie and Jazz looking down at a console, the Ghost Portal standing secure and closed behind them. Then, Jack began pushing his thumb onto the top of the device over and over. Each time he did, the portal shot open, releasing a ghost. There went a ghost squid, a ghost wolf, a ghost snake…

"That was _your_ fault?" Danny asked incredulously. Jack flushed and turned back towards the screen.

"_I told you this genetic lock was a great invention."_ The recorded Jack boasted loudly, releasing several more ghosts. The Fenton family turned towards the hunter.

"Well it _was_." He said defensively. "When I wasn't pushing it." Groaning, they all returned to the screen in time to see a strange shadow ghost force the portal to remain open.

"Wait a minute." Jazz said. "Isn't this when…" Johnny 13 and Kitty could be seen biking through the portal. Suddenly, shadow's pent-up power caused a malfunction.

"_Ahh!" _Kitty screamed on the video.

"_Kitty!"_

"_I knew it! I can't maintain my form; I'm split between here and the Ghost Zone. I'm spreading my energy into my stuff. Get some girl to wear it so I can reform around her. Don't forget about me, Johnny."_

The feed continued for some time, but none of the Fentons were watching.

"Kitty was unstable?" Jazz asked, wide-eyed.

"But she was fine after that." Danny said slowly. Maddie and Jack didn't move.

"So she created a new, stable body by forming around living matter. Once she got the boost, the new body worked fine on its own." Jack said wonderingly. Maddie looked up and grinned triumphantly.

"The electricity, the heat, it was all part of what a living body gives off all the time!" She exclaimed. "That's why the formless ghost matter reacted to it! All we have to do is find a way to recreate how Kitty got her body back, and Dani can be cured!"

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Deep in the Ghost Zone, behind a pair of very ornate doors, five ghosts looked nervously at each other.

"The military is active in Amity Park." Intoned the center ghost. The others nodded, looking ill.

"Well this is good then." Said the far left ghost. "If they cause trouble, we can keep Clockwork off for good, and take whatever steps we need to get rid of those terrible half-ghosts once and for all."

"I'll agree with removing that Vlad character." Growled the ghost beside him. "But the Phantom boy's done nothing wrong. If we must, we'll remove him, but it really rubs me the wrong way to punish an innocent boy."

"Innocent for now, perhaps." Intoned the close right ghost. "But we've all seen what he might someday do. And that was with limited potential! He's far too dangerous to be let free."

"I wish Clockwork were here." Groaned the far right councilor. "He always had some wise thing or other to say. True his powers have always been limited – for good reason – but he's seen so much more than we have. We would benefit from his advice."

"Bah!" Said the far left. "He's too close by far to that Phantom." He said. "His judgment is clouded. And I suspect he knows less than he pretends." Eyebrows rose throughout the room.

"One should not question the ghost of time." Whispered the head councilor. "True, he submits to our authority, but I suspect that that is due to some moral code rather than any lack of power or submission. We must take care not to cross him. I have not seen what he might be capable of if he stopped limiting himself, no more than I understand Phantom. And I'm not in a hurry to find out."

"But if the military threatens the secret of half-ghost creation, we must act. Ongoing judgment or not, we cannot sit back and let the most dangerous secret in either world to fall into the hands of such as these." The far left intoned.

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

"Very well." Stated the center ghost. "This new information is troubling, but for now we must not act. We cannot influence the human world; it would compromise our judgment of Clockwork. So we will watch, and we will wait." The others nodded silently, and the council sat as one to await new developments. It was only a matter of time.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Danny was beaming like crazy all day, but the most annoying part was that none of his friends could get him to tell them why. He'd only grin and tell them "at lunch."

Well lunch had arrived, and the four had finally gotten together at their usual seat. There was nothing keeping Danny from telling them but a twisted sense of humor. Fed up, Tucker decided to break the ice.

"You know," he said conversationally, "we probably shouldn't always be sharing deep dark secrets during lunch."

"What else would we do?" Sam asked in the same tone, smirking slightly.

"Oh, I don't know…eating maybe?" Tucker finished. Val snorted.

"Alright, enough. What's the big secret, Fenton?" Sitting back and looking very pleased with the world in general, the ghost boy answered.

"We figured out how to cure Dani." Tucker and Sam both stared for a second then broke into huge grins. Val sat back looking confused.

"What's a Dani?"

"She's Danny's clone. We've been trying to fix her for months." Sam answered before turning back to her boyfriend. "That's great Danny! How?"

"Danny has a clone?" Val asked, looking very lost. Tucker shot her a pitying gaze.

"Vlad made her." Danny said to her. "She pretended to be a cousin; we had her funeral months ago." Returning to the present he turned towards his more clued-in friends. "Clockwork bent a few rules and told us about some lab footage we could watch. It gave mom and dad all sorts of ideas. She should be cured by this weekend!"

"Vlad has a cousin from Clockwork's funeral?" Val asked weakly, now completely out of the loop. Her boyfriend quickly draped his arm over her shoulder.

"I'll explain it after school." He said quietly. Valerie nodded mutely, and put on a happy look for Danny, who was clearly pleased.

"So," he said, face going serious. "What did Vlad want?" The huntress's face fell as she thought about her equally confusing instructions.

"It was weird. He told me to trick you into going to this '_Partners' and Patrons' Spring Formal Ball_' on Saturday. But he didn't say why, he just said he'd mail me two signed invitations." Sam had paled slightly, but both boys looked confused.

"What's a Spring Formal Ball?" Danny asked, scratching his head. Tucker nodded, facing his girlfriend.

"News to me."

"It's this party the Mansons have every spring. Vlad's going, and he wants us to be there, too." At 'Mansons', Danny had started swapping gazes from a slightly red Sam to an equally confused Valerie.

"Sam's having a party?" He asked. Sam rolled her eyes.

"It's not for me, dumb-dumb." She said in exasperation. "I didn't want you to know I had to go to that kind of thing. fMy parents throw it so they can suck up to people they do business with. And try and get me to date their kids." She added bitterly.

"Sam has a date at the party with Vlad?" Danny asked, shaking his head. Sam smacked herself in the forehead.

"Look." She said slowly into her hand with a frustrated voice, somehow unable to keep a small smile off her face. "Vlad's going to my parent's party. They want me to meet boys. Now you're invited. So you can scare away all the boys my parents like." Danny brightened slightly, allowing his eyes to flicker.

"Except Vlad sent the invites, so it has to be a trap." Tucker pointed out. All three paused, then nodded, frowning.

"But why somewhere public?" Danny asked. "It doesn't make sense. Neither of us can do anything with that many people watching." He shook his head. "Whatever's going on, we'll have to go to the party at least. That way Vlad can still think Val's working for him, and I can get close enough to maybe figure something out. Sam," he said, turning towards his girlfriend, "you'll have to be there; it's your parents' party." She nodded.

Tucker smiled. "So I hide outside and try to wreck Vlad's plans as we figure them out?" Smiling back, Danny nodded. Val scowled.

"I don't like it." She said. "Three of us will be stuck at that party. Tucker needs backup."

"Why not Jazz?" Sam asked. Three sets of eyebrows rose. "What? Vlad wouldn't expect her, he's probably not watching what she's doing all the time like the rest of us, and she's really good at figuring people out. Maybe she'll spot what Vlad's doing before the rest of us." Danny nodded.

"Good. I'll tell her after school. I guess we should spend the rest of the week trying to figure out what he wants. Except me." He finished, eyes flickering slightly again. "I have a few questions for the Guys in White."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - -

Smith smiled into his console, his fingers flying.

"Yes sir, everything is moving forward." He said into his microphone. "Damon will probably try and rally the Fentons, but they won't be able to break back into the towers before it's too late. Phantom won't know what hit him. And yes, I've already added the individual Tower shields. They work fine. No one can attack these things from outside _or_ inside the dome." There was a brief pause.

"Yes sir, the…er…special generators are also ready to go. We tested them on a local ghost, and they work beautifully. Yes, I've been told that the devices were successfully planted at Fenton Works. They'll be ready to activate at the appropriate time. Thank you sir. Smith out."


	12. TEMPORARY FILLER PLEASE READ

Hello everyone. Season's Greetings. (right...)

I would love to post a big, fancy chapter for you all to read, but…I can't. Sorry.

Thanksgiving is an insane holiday for me, but I didn't anticipate this level of…business. I've barely had any computer access for over a week now, and I'll have NO INTERNET for the next week. But then I'll be back! I might be able to type up something during the next week, but it'll be very iffy. To explain briefly: over four big Family dinners so far (for one of which I had to do the turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pie, pudding, etc.), I got ALL my Christmas shopping done (and had to beat up old ladies to get to the super savings items after camping out at 4 am), strung up enough lights and decorations to bring down low-flying planes (And rigged them all to be operated off TWO switches without blowing a fuse…woot!) , got new living room furniture, plus the usual school work and general life. I am very tired, and haven't seen a computer screen in a long long time. (In particular: not mine. I'm on someone else's computer, separated from my old work and notes.) And finally: this next week I will not only be away from a computer but out of the country. Viva Mexico! Ayayay:S

So…yeah. I don't really have much to offer right now. I did manage to type up part of a chapter, and I'll post it below. So at least you guys have SOMETHING from me.

Please note that this is not a whole chapter, and I haven't had a chance to really go back and tweak it, so it's kind of raw, and might be changed a bit when I get back. But you guys deserve it for all the nice reviews. Especially some of the new anonymous types. Some of that stuff makes me wish I'd opened this thing up to all reviews from day one; it easily ranks among the best stuff I've read from anybody. Thank you.

I'll be sure to post thank-you's for everybody, for both the last chappie and this…teaser maybe?...when I get back and post a proper chapter. I hope you can all be understanding, and if this makes you feel better, I have a several-hour layover tomorrow in Detroit, and I'll have my laptop, so… :D

Now I'd love to talk longer, but I have to get up at about three o'clock tomorrow morning, so I really can't stay.

Hasta Luego, Muchachos!

HiddenAuthor

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Chapter 12 – Notices

"Jack's Log. Hunter's date, um…Friday. I am closing in upon what may well be the greatest discovery in the history of ghost hunting. Soon, very soon, I will-"

"Dad? What are you doing?" Jack Fenton rolled out from underneath the huge body of his latest invention, arc welder in hand; to lock gazes with his bemused and slightly concerned son.

"Er…Creating life, but not as we know it?" He suggested hesitantly. Maddie giggled from over by the Ghost Portal as their son rolled his eyes. "I'm just having some fun, Danny. And look!" He gestured broadly at the giant machine above him. Everything's ready for Danielle's reembodiment. Now if I could just finish the ecto-energy transmitters…" Mumbling about wires and converters, Jack pushed himself back under his enormous creation. Blue light flared as he began welding once more.

"So this thing will really work?" Danny asked curiously, walking around the machine slowly to take in the full view.

"Mhmm." Maddie mumbled positively as she continued her work at the portal. A long cable could be seen flowing from the portal to the large new device. "Your father and I must have watched that lab footage a hundred times. Kitty didn't actually take over Jazz's body as planned, but it seems that with the extra boost from the portal, she didn't have to. A temporary switch was enough." With a slight frown at the thought of her daughter becoming the soulless body of an invading ghost for all eternity, Mrs. Fenton resumed her work. "Oh, remember not to finish connecting the wires until I shut off the-"

"OW!"

"Ghost Portal." She finished with a sigh, coming over to Jack's side of the production. A light smoke was wafting out from underneath, and the air was laden with the scent of burning hair. "You know how much energy flows through that portal, Jack." She scolded. "You know we can't finish connecting the wires while there's a live current in them."

"Sorry Mads." He apologized as he surveyed the damage in a small hand mirror. "I just got excited, that's all. We've been trying to fix Dani for so long, and now we can! I just want to get her back to normal." Maddie smiled as she flicked singed hairs from his now temporarily bald forehead.

"Um, how will this help?" Danny asked nervously from the sidelines. It wasn't that he didn't trust his parents, but their first tries at inventions tended to have some kinks. Like an uncharged battery. Or an on switch on the _inside_.

"Take a look _inside_ the machine." Maddie advised. Curious, Danny edged forward and looked in through a display glass. Eyes wide, he quickly jumped back.

"What is that stuff!" He gasped.

"Bits of human." Maddie answered. "We took Dani's DNA and stuck it into some normal human cells and got them to form into a body shape . Then we put what's left of the _real_ Dani into the ghost portal and turn it on. The energy discharge will suck up her ectoplasm and shoot it into that chamber, fusing it together into her new body. It's almost the same way you got your ghost form, but in reverse." She added as an afterthought.

"How'd you learn to do the DNA thing?" He asked. His parents both shot each other a strange look.

"We, uh, just tried it once to see what would happen." Maddie said with an odd half smile. "No reason, really." Danny frowned for a minute, but shrugged, deciding to let the matter drop.

"So when are you going to do it?" He asked.

"Sometime tomorrow." Jack called out from back under the machine. "The body in the chamber hasn't had long enough to fully form yet. It might be dangerous to do it too soon."

"Right. I'm just gonna go upstairs and do some homework, so…"

"Danny!" Jazz jogged downstairs two at a time, some rolled up paper in her hands.

"Uh, yes?" He responed, eyeing his panting sister. After a quick gulp of air, Jazz reached up and handed him her package.

"I just got a copy. They're all over town." It was a new 'Spook' paper.

_'Phantom Called Out _

_For the last several months this paper has been publishing free, true facts about he elusive Danny Phantom. But what has Phantom ever said on his own behalf? What answers have he given our burning questions about his safety, his sanity, and his true nature? None! The people of Amity Park will stand for it no longer! On behalf of our fair city, we demand that Phantom immediately stand down as 'hero' and submit to local authorities for extensive questioning and testing. Only when we know he is what he says he is will this city ever truly be safe. Where are you Phantom? You can't hide the truth forever!' _

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"Oh, how about this one, sweetie? It brings out your beautiful eyes! Oh, or this one!"

Yet again, Sam found herself on the painful end of a dress-up. And this time, her parents meant business. But she knew as soon as her parents had started commenting on 'how frail and ill' grandma Manson was becoming, that something big was up. And now she was trapped. There was no way she was going to let them ship her granny off to some home. Even if that meant putting on pink…fluffy…dresses.

"You know I'm perfectly able to dress myself, right?" Sam asked hopelessly. She was predictably rewarded with a dismissive smile.

"Oh yes dear, but the…clothing you tend to wear is simply unacceptable at this sort of party." Eyes alight, her mother reverently opened a huge box and pulled out a giant confection of ribbons, silks, hosiery, ribbed corset, beads, gems, and frills. "Now _this_ is something a young lady of your status should be wearing." It was official. Her mom was insane.

"You're insane." Sam stated flatly. A slight flush crept across her mother's face, but she received no other reaction.

"Well tell me, Sammy." She said in a prissy, brick tone. "What sort of outfit would you find acceptable?" That took her daughter aback.

"You're…compromising with me?" She asked distrustfully.

"Well it's not as though I have a choice." Her mother burst out. "You simply must attend the party, Sam. So many young men of good standing are coming; they'll be expecting you. But I absolutely refuse to let you go unless you're wearing something we both think is at least marginally acceptable." Grinning triumphantly, Sam rushed over to her closet. "And no black! It's gauche." Sagging slightly, she redirected her steps to the far back of her closet. A few minutes of rummaging later and she stepped out holding a very simple dress in violet. The pattern was set out in basic lines, with no thin material, frills, or gems. After a momentary frown, her mother grudgingly nodded her acceptance.

"That's adequate, I suppose." She conceded. "And simple lines do convey a sense of humility and strength." Smiling, her mother gradually warmed to the dress. "Yes, you're bound to attract a respectable young man with that, provided you don't paint your face with that awful black makeup." Head high in triumph, her mother retreated from Sam's room. The incredibly annoyed girl looked down at her dress.

"Well I guess that's something." She muttered. There was a quiet knock on her door.

"Sam?"

"Grandma?" Perking up, Sam hurried over and opened the door. Her grandmother quickly came in.

"So what're you in for?" She asked jokingly. Sam grinned in response and held out the dress.

"It's not so bad." She said. "At least it's not pink or something." The two shared a shudder, and broke into quiet giggles.

"No, I suppose not." Her grandma conceded. "But do you think _he'll_ like it?" She finished with a wink. Sam blushed.

"W-who do you mean?" She asked. Her grandma grinned.

"Why that Fenton boy, of course. A good, caring young man if I ever met one." The old woman pulled up close to whisper in her granddaughter's ear. "And your parents hate him, so he's perfect!" Sam burst out laughing, falling back onto her bed. Her grandma smiled quietly.

"You really do love him, don't you dear?" She asked. Still a bit pink, Sam gave a small nod. "I can tell, sweetie. When you get to be my age, you can always tell. And I know he feels the same way about you.

()()() END ()()()

Just for reference, at this point is a cutesy gooey goo moment between Sam and grannie. She's cool, and I've referenced her so much in these stories, she just needed a moment. I'll try to finish this thing up while away. Good Thoughts.


	13. Notices

HELLO EVERYBODY!

Generally a good vacation. I did not, however, get as much work done on my computer as I might have wanted. The story is briefly given below. You'll laugh, you'll cry. I mostly laughed, as the universe has a twisted sense of humor and I struggle daily to appreciate it. But I'll admit, this joke was veeerrry hard to laugh at.

An airline, which shall remain nameless, was to blame. My trip to Mexico was supposed to be a two-city jump to Cancun by way of Detroit. So we roll out on the small puddlejumper plane to the Automobile capital, and oooh! Fog! Yay! Our plane was delayed an hour. Upon arrival, I sprinted across the entire length of the Detroit airport through the underground connecting tunnel and all the way to the end of the A gates to catch the next flight, only to find out that not only had the plane already left (it left 10 minutes early, and I might have caught it if it hadn't), it had left at the other side of the airport! AHHH! But this is where the fun starts. Since there were no more flights to Cancun from Detroit that day, I was graciously invited by the airline to tour the lovely city of Atlanta on my way. A small detour, of course. o.O After switching planes for a SECOND time in Detroit after a malfunction with the first, we flew off towards Atlanta, already an hour behind the NEW schedule from that little delay. So, upon arrival, I got to sprint across the much larger Atlanta Airport, and arrived at the gate minutes before the plane was scheduled to take off. I can only marvel that I still got my luggage in Cancun, just in time for a thorough probing. (Though a very nice bag of golf clubs (not mine, a relative's; I don't golf) were lost on the return trip, and are as I type wandering about somewhere in Minneapolis.)

In short, the five hour trip with one decent, relaxing layover turned into an eight hour trip (in the air alone) with two sprints and an hour 'wait' finaggling with airline attendants to figure out where to go.

Yes, the universe is FUNNY! Still, once there, it was wonderful, and I managed to type up a chapter or two. So moving right along...

MUCH LOVE TO REVIEWERS!! Thanks to Diamond Raider, Arabic Blessing, Lady Jarine, The Fluff Ghost, "Quacked Lurker" (note the sparkly highlight thingies. I'll use those for anonymous readers from now on, to give them extra generic love since the private kind needs e-mail.), "Linda", MarinJayde, bluename, DP fan, egyptianqueen777, Queen S of Randomess 016, hermie-the-frog, BarnOwl 93, Tornada Silverwind, acosta parez jose ramiro, Sasia93, Unrealistic, Egyptian Ghost Kitty, Warrior of winds, Nonasuki-chan, and chaotic.calm. You is good peoples:D

Here's chapter twelve. I know the teaser thing will make this confusing, I just know it! But...I don't want you guys to not review this whole chapter just because you wanted to be supportive earlier. So, it's in a new slot. Till next time. (And it should be soon, I'm way too broke to go on vacation again.)

HiddenAuthor

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Chapter 12 – Notices

"Jack's Log. Hunter's date, um…Friday. I am closing in upon what may well be the greatest discovery in the history of ghost hunting. Soon, very soon, I will-"

"Dad? What are you doing?" Jack Fenton rolled out from underneath the huge body of his latest invention, arc welder in hand; to lock gazes with his bemused and slightly concerned son.

"Er…Creating life, but not as we know it?" He suggested hesitantly. Maddie giggled from over by the Ghost Portal as their son rolled his eyes. "I'm just having some fun, Danny. And look!" He gestured broadly at the giant machine above him. Everything's ready for Danielle's reembodiment. Now if I could just finish the ecto-energy transmitters…" Mumbling about wires and converters, Jack pushed himself back under his enormous creation. Blue light flared as he began welding once more.

"So this thing will really work?" Danny asked curiously, walking around the machine slowly to take in the full view.

"Mhmm." Maddie mumbled positively as she continued her work at the portal. A long cable could be seen flowing from the portal to the large new device. "Your father and I must have watched that lab footage a hundred times. Kitty didn't actually take over Jazz's body as planned, but it seems that with the extra boost from the portal, she didn't have to. A temporary switch was enough." With a slight frown at the thought of her daughter becoming the soulless body of an invading ghost for all eternity, Mrs. Fenton resumed her work. "Oh, remember not to finish connecting the wires until I shut off the-"

"OW!"

"Ghost Portal." She finished with a sigh, coming over to Jack's side of the production. A light smoke was wafting out from underneath, and the air was laden with the scent of burning hair. "You know how much energy flows through that portal, Jack." She scolded. "You know we can't finish connecting the wires while there's a live current in them."

"Sorry Mads." He apologized as he surveyed the damage in a small hand mirror. "I just got excited, that's all. We've been trying to fix Dani for so long, and now we can! I just want to get her back to normal." Maddie smiled as she flicked singed hairs from his now temporarily bald forehead.

"Um, how will this help?" Danny asked nervously from the sidelines. It wasn't that he didn't trust his parents, but their first tries at inventions tended to have some kinks. Like an uncharged battery. Or an 'on' switch on the _inside_.

"Take a look _inside_ the machine." Maddie advised. Curious, Danny edged forward and looked in through a display glass. Eyes wide, he quickly jumped back.

"What is that stuff!" He gasped.

"Bits of human." Maddie answered in what her son thought was a way-too-calm tone. "We took Dani's DNA and stuck it into some normal human cells and got them to form into a body shape. Now we'll put what's left of the _real_ Dani into the ghost portal and turn it on. The energy discharge will suck up her ectoplasm and shoot it into that chamber, fusing it together into her new body. It's almost the same way you got your ghost form, but in reverse." She added as an afterthought.

"How'd you learn to do the DNA thing?" He asked. His parents both shot each other a strange look.

"We, uh, just tried it once to see what would happen." Maddie said with an odd half smile. "No reason, really." Danny frowned for a minute, but shrugged, deciding to let the matter drop.

"So when are you going to do it?" He asked.

"Sometime tomorrow." Jack called out from back under the machine. "The body in the chamber hasn't had long enough to fully form yet. It might be dangerous to do it too soon."

"Right. I'm just gonna go upstairs and do some homework, so…"

"Danny!" Jazz jogged downstairs two at a time, some rolled up paper in her hands.

"Uh, yes?" He responded, eyeing his panting sister. After a quick gulp of air, Jazz reached up and handed him her package.

"I just got a copy. They're all over town." It was a new 'Spook' paper.

'_Phantom Called Out_

_For the last several months this paper has been publishing free, true facts about he elusive Danny Phantom. But what has Phantom ever said on his own behalf? What answers has he given our burning questions about his safety, his sanity, and his true nature? None! The people of Amity Park will stand for it no longer! On behalf of our fair city, we demand that Phantom immediately stand down as 'hero' and submit to local authorities for extensive questioning and testing. Only when we know he is what he says he is will this city ever truly be safe. Where are you Phantom? You can't hide the truth forever!'_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Oh, how about this one, sweetie? It brings out your beautiful eyes! Oh, or this one!"

Yet again, Sam found herself on the painful end of a dress-up. And this time, her parents meant business. But she knew as soon as her parents had started commenting on 'how frail and ill' Grandma Manson was becoming, that something big was up. And now she was trapped. There was no way she was going to let them ship her granny off to some home. Even if that meant putting on pink…fluffy…dresses.

"You know I'm perfectly able to dress myself, right?" Sam asked hopelessly. She was predictably rewarded with a dismissive smile.

"Oh yes dear, but the…clothing you tend to wear is simply unacceptable at this sort of party." Eyes alight; her mother reverently opened a huge box and pulled out a giant confection of ribbons, silks, hosiery, ribbed corset, beads, gems, and frills. "Now _this_ is something a young lady of your status should be wearing." It was official. Her mom was insane.

"You're insane." Sam stated flatly. A slight flush crept across her mother's face, but she received no other reaction.

"Well tell me, Sammy." She said in a prissy, brick tone. "What sort of outfit would you find acceptable?" That took her daughter aback.

"You're…compromising with me?" She asked distrustfully.

"Well it's not as though I have a choice." Her mother burst out. "You simply must attend the party, Sam. So many young men of good standing are coming; they'll be expecting you. But I absolutely refuse to let you go unless you're wearing something we both think is at least marginally acceptable." Grinning triumphantly, Sam rushed over to her closet. "And no black! It's gauche." Sagging slightly, she redirected her steps to the far back of her closet. A few minutes of rummaging later and she stepped out holding a very simple dress in violet. The pattern was set out in basic lines, with no thin material, frills, or gems. After a momentary frown, her mother grudgingly nodded her acceptance.

"That's adequate, I suppose." She conceded. "And simple lines do convey a sense of humility and strength." Smiling, her mother gradually warmed to the dress. "Yes, you're bound to attract a respectable young man with that, provided you don't paint your face with that awful black makeup." Head high in triumph, her mother retreated from Sam's room. The incredibly annoyed girl looked down at her dress.

"Well I guess that's something." She muttered. There was a quiet knock on her door.

"Sam?"

"Grandma?" Perking up, Sam hurried over and opened the door. Her grandmother quickly came in.

"So what're you in for?" She asked jokingly. Sam grinned in response and held out the dress.

"It's not so bad." She said. "At least it's not pink or something." The two shared a shudder, and broke into quiet giggles.

"No, I suppose not." Her grandma conceded. "But do you think _he'll_ like it?" She finished with a wink. Sam blushed.

"W-who do you mean?" She asked. Her grandma grinned.

"Why that Fenton boy, of course. I heard he's managed to find an invitation. A good, caring young man if I ever met one." The old woman pulled up close to whisper in her granddaughter's ear. "And your parents hate him, so he's perfect!" Sam burst out laughing, falling back onto her bed. Her grandma smiled quietly.

"You really do love him, don't you dear?" She asked. Still a bit pink, Sam gave a small nod. "I can tell, sweetie. When you get to be my age, you can always tell. And I know he feels the same way about you." The older woman sighed. "I wish your parents could see that. How they got it in their heads that the only good match for you would make you completely miserable is beyond me. _I_ want you to be happy, Sam, and you deserve it. Never forget that, okay?" Her granddaughter nodded mutely.

"And stop cringing at their beck and call just to keep me out of the home." She added brightly. Sam stared. "Oh, didn't think I knew about that, eh? That's the other problem with young people; they always think their elders are idiots. Don't ask me why, we're the ones that taught you everything. Still," she sighed, "you really should just be yourself. I don't think either of 'em has the guts to actually ship me off, and I'll fight tooth and nail to stay. Be happy Sam. That's all I want."

Smiling quietly, the older woman ambled off towards the door, masking most of her inner fire behind a façade of quiet dotage, off to subvert her unsuspecting children. Sam smiled to herself and turned off the light. Maybe tomorrow wouldn't be so bad after all.

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"I am the _Box Ghoo_-ow! Ow! Ow!"

Red and green beams of energy lanced out through the cool night air to repeatedly strike the box ghost. An enthusiastic dodge through a side alley showed that the blasts were very weak and meant to hurt but not knock out the annoying ghost.

"Run, Boxy! Run!" Laughing enthusiastically, Valerie Gray chased the invading spirit through the twists and turns of Amity Park's downtown district, careful to steer her quarry away from any civilians or easily damaged material. She made enough mistakes like that early in her hunting career and had no desire to make more. If nothing else, that sort of carelessness would definitely get her grounded.

BOOM!

"Argh!" She moaned in frustration as the Box Ghost overturned a huge pile of crates in an attempt to throw her off.

With a quick backward glance, she noted that no property damage had been done and that the boxes were empty. Still, she knew that this chase had come to an end. In one fluid motion, she swung her arm behind her back, plucked the Fenton Bazooka out of its holster, charged it with her free hand, and fired the second she completed the arc. Green energy burst forth and swallowed the Box Ghost in a very small temporary portal, his idiotic threats echoing for a few short moments before fading into the gloom. Snorting at stupid ghosts and stupid hunts, the Red Huntress turned to head off on patrol.

"Nice shot."

Val's head shot around to take in the commentator and the huntress nearly crashed into a nearby wall before remembering to turn. One eyebrow on her spectator's face rose in amusement, and she scowled, though more in irritation than in real anger, to her slight surprise and definite pride.

"Phantom." Danny grinned, albeit a bit uncertainly.

"Huntress."

"It's my night for patrol." She said coolly, flying over to sit next to him on a crumbling roof ledge. The moment she settled, a spider web of cracks spread out across the entire surface, but nothing crumbled. Now it was her turn to raise an eyebrow.

"I'm feeling pretty weightless right now." Phantom remarked offhandedly, looking absently up at the stars. "Don't worry though; I don't think it'll break." Val snorted and settled down.

"Why are you out here, anyway?" She asked at last. Danny turned and gave her a questioning look. "I mean, you have a big day tomorrow. And I already gave you your invitation, so you didn't need to come find me. You could be asleep, or something." He shrugged.

"Got a lot on my mind." He said at last.

"That doesn't answer my question." She said, with a touch of irritation creeping back into her voice. "I mean, don't you usually go redecorate that lair of yours when you want to think?" Danny shot her a lopsided smile.

"Been talking to Tucker?" He asked casually.

"Been talking to Tucker." She confirmed. "I…I _am_ sorry about how much I was stressing you out, Danny." She continued quietly, after a discreet look around. "I know why you didn't tell me, and I think you were probably right. If that's what you're thinking about, well, just know I'm coping, or whatever. I'm not totally sure about the ghost thing yet, but I'm not mad about you lying to me." Danny smiled quietly.

"Well I guess that's one less thing." He said. "To tell you the truth, a lot's been going on lately."

"Like what?" She asked curiously. Danny shot her a mischievous grin.

"I thought this was your night for patrol." He teased. Val glowered over at him.

"I'm on my break." At this, Danny actually laughed.

"Wow. Why didn't I think of that when the last ghost attacked?" He joked. The two shared a quiet laugh on the starlit rooftop before settling down once again.

"I don't know where to start." He said at last. "Danielle's getting 'fixed' tomorrow, or at least I hope so. Tucker would have explained about why we had the funeral by now." Val nodded. "I thought that was why you were so confused before. She's not dead, just…out of it. Or something. But tomorrow, she might get better. Or if something goes wrong, she could get totally torn apart." He muttered. "And this ghost friend of mine, Clockwork, is in some real trouble. He's so powerful, he doesn't have to listen to the ghosts punishing him, but he wants to anyway. I guess I'm glad he is, but a part of me really wants him to just break the rules and do what he wants." Danny shook his head. "But if I stop caring about following rules like that, what am I supposed to do when _I'm_ too strong for other people to control? I want him to break the rules so much, but I know he shouldn't. So it's up to me to keep him out of trouble." Val looked over at him for a second.

"What happened?" Danny chuckled bitterly.

"I don't really know." He admitted. "I think the council – the ghosts that make the big rules and decisions – wanted to kick him off, so they used some technicality to put him under arrest. Now if anything goes really bad in the next few months, they'll do who-knows-what to him. And the worst part is I think this fighting between him and them is about me. They're…scared of me."

"Oh." Val said quietly.

"Yeah." He responded morosely. "It's because he got in trouble that Vlad got released. But if nothing goes wrong, Clockwork's in the clear and Vlad goes back to ghost jail, or whatever. So he's working hard right now to make some _major_ trouble, something I can't clean up. And I have no idea what it is, except that I'm supposed to go to that Manson party tomorrow. Oh, and the Guys in White came to our house asking questions, that 'Spook' paper is practically calling me a criminal, and your dad lost his job – along with the most powerful antighost weapon ever built - to some mysterious evil guy."

"You heard about that?"

"Are you kidding? Your dad and my dad are like this." Phantom crossed his fingers. "The D-man." He said dryly, rolling his eyes. Valerie chuckled a bit, but if it was subdued, Danny supposed he understood. "Is he okay?" She hesitated.

"I don't know." She said at last. "He seemed really upset. He knows something's going on over there, and it can't be good." She frowned. "I've had a lot to think about too."

"Which is why you were chasing the Box Ghost across town." Phantom reasoned. Val smiled.

"You can't beat the classics." Phantom grinned back. Val's watch beeped.

"Ah!" She moaned. "I've gotta go. It looks like another ghost popped up across town, over by tower 22. Later!" And just like that, Danny was alone again. A brief shimmer of energy later, and the rooftop was empty.

A small chunk of stone broke off the edge and crashed onto the walk below.

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"Jack, Maddie." Damon greeted casually from across the downstairs dining room table.

"Damon."

"I know it's late, but I need your help." Jack and Maddie looked at each other, and let their gazes return to their friend. "You know I've been booted off the tower project, but there are some things you don't know yet. The man in charge now…he's working for someone. I mean, he's some sort of…spy, or agent, or something. He's not here to help our city, he wants something else. He came on the project very recently, but he's completely taken over. The towers are all operational now, even if the non-critical structures aren't up yet. And that had to take some serious cash, or at least a lot of engineers and ghost scientists. When I started asking questions, I got fired. Now this 'Smith' guy is in charge, and he's bad news. I know it."

"Ok, Damon." Maddie answered quietly over tea. "Jack and I both know how important the towers are, and how dangerous they can be in the wrong hands, but…what can we do?"

"I want to sneak in." Jack started coughing. "It shouldn't be that hard!" He hastily added. "I designed most of the basic security systems myself. They can change the codes and add guards, but moving where the wiring and cameras and things are would take a lot of effort, no matter _who_ they are. If anyone can get in, I can."

"That makes sense," Maddie answered, "but what can Jack and I do?" Jack nodded, massaging his throat.

"You two are local ghost experts, and two of the most trustworthy people I know." He answered grimly. "If 'Smith' is up to something in those towers, it's probably ghost related. Whatever it is, I need one of you to come along to figure out what's going on, and help me figure out what to take back out with me as proof."

"I'll go." Jack said gravely, setting down his soda. Damon smiled hesitantly.

"Er, thanks, Jack. But, uh, I was sort of hoping Maddie would come. No offense," he hastily amended, "it's just, uh, you're not exactly built for stealth." Jack looked down at the acres and acres of…him, and grinned sheepishly.

"Right. Good luck you two." Maddie rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't feel bad, hon. You can work on that _other_ project while I'm gone. The one downstairs." Jack brightened.

"Uh…" Damon looked from one to the other. "Did I miss something?" The two looked flustered for a moment, and then Maddie turned and gave Damon a hesitant smile.

"We…er…have found clues recently that Dani might not have died last September after all." She started. "We never found a body. And there's been a rumor that she might be somewhere in the Ghost Zone." Damon paled.

"For all these months!"

"Well, Phantom's been looking for her." Jack threw in. Maddie shot him a warning glance. "We think one of his friends found her a while back, and word is just getting to us. So tomorrow, I'll be heading off to check things out." Their friend looked unconvinced for a minute, but grinned.

"That's good news! I'm sorry to ask you to help with this, Maddie, I know how important Dani is, and-"

"Don't worry Damon," Maddie interrupted. "I want to help you. We only have the one Specter Speeder, and Jack alone can search just as well as the two of us together. What time should we head out tomorrow?"

"Noon." Both Fentons raised their eyebrows. "There's usually a shift change around then, because of how well-lit the perimeter is. And we'll have _some_ shadow cover on one side of the tower. If we went at night, they'd be lit from an outer ring on every side, and sneaking up on it would be almost impossible. I designed the system, remember?"

"Right. Noon it is."

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'_Right. Noon it is.'_

Smith smiled darkly to himself and set down his headphones. Yes, placing a bug at the Fentons' house was an excellent idea. Among other things…

"So we'll be having company tomorrow. Well, there's no way they'll breach the tower." Still, it always paid to have a backup strategy. Now what…

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

'_Proximity Alert! Unidentified Flying Object approaching Tower 22. Ectosignature present; appears manmade. Identity…confirmed. Vigilante 'Red Huntress.''_

Smith's smile deepened.

"Hmm…hostages can make an excellent backup plan. Even vigilantes." Fingers flew over a small keyboard.

'_Engaging Ectobeams in Five…Four…Three…Two…_


	14. Losses

Hey!

Yay, I got this up about when I wanted to. It took me a bit longer than I thought, but now I have the final scenes of the story firmly in place in my head. This chapter, you finally discover who's doing what. I hope some jaws drop. I was going for that. And I'm seriously loving how this thing will end. But that's later. And so you all know, this is how I planned the ending from the get-go. I'm very glad it worked out though, since I didn't really know the middle of the story when I was writing. :D

Right, now love for reviewers! Thanks to: hermie-the-frog, bluename, Meagainsttheworld, Diamond Raider, Egyptian Ghost Kitty, MarinJayde, Sasia 93, Queen S of Randomness 016, "Quacked Lurker" (super cudos for figuring out how the Fentons knew the DNA trick), Warrior of winds, Nikky Phantom of the Opera, The Fluff Ghost, Nonasuki-chan, "Linda", Unrealistic, DP fan, fan-girls2.0, egyptianqueen777, chaotic.calm, Chaos Dragon (still waiting to hear your par), Tornada Silverwind, Epona Harper, acosta parez jose ramiro, and AirGirl Phantom. You all rock! Out loud!

So here goes the chapter! Hope you like it, there's a tiny cliffie in it. :P

HiddenAuthor

PS, special cudos to anybody who can tell me what RARE videogame I'm spoofing with the cheif ghost.

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Chapter 13 – Losses

In the early dawn light, a fleet of seemingly harmless vans rolled along various highways and roadways across the state. They were different colors, different models, different years, and for all the unsuspecting citizens knew, were out on completely different business.

Unfortunately, not many people can see through solid objects. Inside, each van was the same.

'GIW' blazed proudly from atop glowing displays. Nameless agents in standard white suits spoke into radio phones or calibrated ghost weapons. The day of attack had finally come.

Agent M smiled grimly at the stretch of road before him, the last few miles on his path back to Amity Park. There had been setbacks, even disappointments, but before the day was out, Phantom would be theirs.

"Agent S, this is agent M, over." He called into the radio at his side.

"Agent S speaking; how are things with the cavalry?" M chuckled humorlessly.

"Already missing our base in the city, S. I wish with every bump in the road that it'd been you that had been sent out."

"We both know I had to stay here to run things." Came the inevitable reply.

"Oh?" M answered, amused. "How many new 'Spook' articles did you write, exactly?" S didn't reply.

"Get those vans to just inside the towers. I'll meet you when you arrive."

"Right. M out."

As the weapon-laden vehicles trudged on, M thought back wryly to Phantom's second…and last, press meeting.

'_If you run into anything above a Class 7, get a tank.'_

"Oh, you'll wish that was all we were going to do." He said darkly to a flickering image of Phantom on a nearby screen. "You'll just wish."

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Damon rubbed his eyes wearily and drank another cup of coffee. He and Maddie had stayed up late into the night in the Fentons' living room, making plans and drawing complex pathways across tower schematics. Jack had gone to bed hours earlier, to rest up for his 'trip through the Ghost Zone.'

After only four hours of sleep, Maddie was feeling just a little jealous.

"So why are we going to Tower 22 again?" She asked tiredly as she sipped her own coffee, struggling to wake up. Damon shrugged.

"They seemed to work hardest to keep that one secret from me." He answered simply. "If nothing else, it's a good place to start. And we'll have a half hour window of shade on the entry side of the tower just before the noon shift change. I can bypass the security pad at the door in about five minutes. We just have to run up to the door when the first guard leaves, unscrew the cover plate, attach my connector wires, and draw them around the side of the tower before guard number two arrives."

"Then you bypass the lock on your computer, I toss a rock or something to draw the guard, we both slip through the door before he gets back, and it'll lock again behind us." Maddie finished, already feeling much better and more alert. "But what about the cameras?"

"Ughh." Damon rubbed his temples. "We were up for hours last night thinking about that." The security guard sat back in his seat, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Any ideas?"

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"Shirt tucked in, tie straight…" Danny counted off to himself as he nervously tried to press out wrinkles on his dress shirt and jacket as he looked at himself critically in the mirror. "Fenton phone to Jazz and Tucker tucked away just in case." He continued, discreetly shoving the small device into his left ear. "Now all I have to do is outthink Vlad, avoid the Guys in White, try and figure out how to prove those 'Spook' guys are lying, get Mr. Gray his job back, and impress Sam's parents." He rolled his eyes. "Okay, maybe the last one is too hard, but the others should be snap. Right." Taking a deep breath, he turned and grimly marched downstairs. Jazz was waiting for him outside in her car.

"Not bad, bro." She said cheerfully as she tucked the edge of her hazmat ghost battle outfit under the hem of her usual t-shirt. "You clean up pretty good. But do you think _she'll_ like it?" Turning a bit red, Danny gave a noncommittal shrug. Jazz laughed.

"I just want to get through today _alive_." He answered. "Are you and Tucker ready?" She nodded briskly as she put the car in drive.

"As we'll ever be. We brought enough Fenton Weapons to beat ten Vlads. Besides, he'll be at a huge party surrounded by hundreds of people. What can he do?"

"Something evil." Danny answered simply. Jazz snorted.

"I don't know, Jazz. This isn't really his style. Every time we've fought before, he's been at the back, moving pieces like one big chess game. He never shows up until he's ready. And I haven't caught any ghosts working for him, or plans he has his hand in, or anything. And all the weird stuff going on around here…I can't see how any of it has something to do with going to this party."

"Well it is a public place like you said." Jazz said slowly as they turned towards the Manson mansion. "Do you think he might expose you?" Danny's eyes widened, but seconds later he just shook his head.

"But that doesn't make any sense either." He insisted. "Exposing me exposes him. And there's _no_ way he wants people to know he's half ghost."

"Maybe he thinks he has nothing to lose." Jazz said quietly. "If he doesn't cause some _major_ trouble, he'll never see mom again. And as creepy as it is, she's more important to him than almost anything." The two shared a quiet shudder as the car pulled up to the house.

"It just doesn't make sense. Besides, I don't think he could force me into my ghost form." Danny said skeptically. "He tried that with Dani and the clones, and he couldn't do it."

"Well, be careful." Jazz said as he stepped out of the car, invitation in hand. "Tucker and I are meeting at the small park down the block. Yell if you even _think_ Vlad's going to pull something. Okay?" Danny nodded and stepped out. Sighing, Jazz continued on to the park. Somehow, she just knew something terrible was going to happen.

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Val glowered up at the grim man in front of her. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, least of all now, but she was in serious trouble. The last thing she remembered was a brilliant flash, and she'd woken up in a _very_ small holding cell, presumably in the tower. He seemed to be in a conversation with someone.

"We have two persons outside the tower now. Visual suggests Damon Gray and Maddie Fenton." There was a pause. "I understand. I will act as soon as I hear the signal. Thank you." The COM link closed.

"Smith, is it?" She asked coolly. The man moved from the small control center and gave her a dismissive gaze.

"It is." He replied absently. "Valerie Gray, correct?" Val said nothing. "Oh come now, girl, I've given my name, the least you can do is give yours. I've seen your picture a hundred times in that oaf you call a father's office. Imagine my surprise when I removed the deadly Huntress's weapons to find…you."

"Were you really?" She asked caustically. Smith didn't answer. "What do you want?" She tried at last.

"I want what any man wants." He said simply, turning back to his work. "No more, no less. At the end of the day for me, that means sitting here, running things at the Towers. Though I won't be here much longer, thankfully." He favored her one last dark look. "You behave yourself, or I might just leave you here with _him_." A brusque gesture directed her gaze towards the corner of the room. A green puddle oozed across the floor, a small, feeble limb occasionally managing to form and twitch for a few seconds before dissolving once again.

"Wha-what _is_ that?"

"Was." He corrected. "A ghost, utterly drained of ecto-energy. Eventually, he wasn't even able to maintain a body." He raised an amused eyebrow. "With a ghost being our primary enemy, how did you _think_ we were going to power the towers?"

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The door to Clockwork's lair burst open.

"Clockwork!" The loud voice of the chief ghost echoed off of the gear-filled walls of the vast lair. The agitated spirit hurried along on two surprisingly short legs, his incredibly short form, usually so well concealed behind a tall podium, putting forth extreme effort in his haste.

His nerves fully locked behind his usual calm expression, the Time Ghost approached out of the gloom.

"You wanted something, Gregory?" The ghostly intruder flinched.

"Don't call me that!" He hissed. "The councilors aren't supposed to use names! You're the only exception we've seen in thousands of years, but you don't need to drag us with you."

"My apologies." He replied mildly. "Are you here to arrest me?"

"I should!" His 'guest' huffed. "Everything on earth is an absolute mess! Armies are gathering – _armies_, Clockwork! – and those two…_things_ are right there in the middle of it all, one slip from blowing the hybrid secret to kingdom come!"

"Then why not arrest me? That is what you declared fit punishment for such chaos."

"Because we _need_ you, curse you!" He burst out. "As much as we want you off the council so we can _properly_ deal with those _creatures_, if their secret gets out to the military, you're the only ghost with the power to fix things!"

"Fix things?" Clockwork asked, actually amused. "You assume something is wrong."

"Of course it is!" Greg shouted. "Half-ghosts are _wrong_! They're too powerful, they were never meant to _exist_! And if things go wrong, we'll have an army of the things at our doorstep before we can blink!"

"Not meant to be?" Clockwork asked, eyes flashing. "You know nothing of time, Gregory; do not presume to lecture me on its subtleties. If it were not meant to be, it _wouldn't _be. What you want is for me to interfere with the time stream directly, not let it flow as it should, to shape the universe to your liking!" The ancient ghost's voice rose in anger. Above, the gears and walls shook. "It has always been about control! You and your foolish council, my so-called '_friends_' in the past, those observants! You don't want the universe to be as it is meant to be, you want it to meet _your_ desires! That's why you've always locked away my powers, curbed my abilities, and limited my actions. It's so I do nothing to time that you don't first approve! So do not come to me now and speak of a _correct_ universe, Gregory! What you want is _your _universe, so just find the courage to say so!"

The chief ghost was very pale. There was silence for a long time.

"I…I want you to keep the humans from discovering the path to hybridization." He said tremulously. "If you can stop it, your charges shall be dropped."

"Then I'm free to act?"

"No!" Gregory shouted quickly. "You'll do nothing until I say you may act! If your efforts are not needed, you will do nothing, and things will stay as they are! Stable, secure, and safe!" Clockwork snorted.

"You're a fool, Gregory. And that council is little better. Change is the only constant in the world, and safety is an illusion. You cannot condemn something new and strange simply because it might be dangerous. You lack foresight." Now Greg snorted.

"That's hardly our fault. _We _aren't lords of time."

"Not all foresight is ghostly power. Sometimes you just need faith. You've never understood that, Gregory, and perhaps that's why you don't _deserve_ that power."

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Danny had just discovered that caviar was bad.

Sam shot him an amused smirk from her prison of 'aspiring young gentlemen' as he tried to discretely remove the quivering spoonful of raw fish eggs from his mouth, by any means necessary. Of course, Mr. Manson took this moment to give him a withering glare, rendering all methods except one useless. Danny swallowed.

Shuddering, the ghost boy moved away from the silver tray bearing the offending food-like substance and ambled off into a crowd of conspicuously rich people. There seemed to be a lot of them at this party. The only thing really bothering him was that he hadn't run into Valerie.

"Tucker." He called into his Fenton Phone link. "Anything?"

"Nothing, man." Came the worried reply. "I think something's seriously wrong. I'm gonna go look for her. Cool?"

"Yeah." He said. "Jazz should be fine. Right, Jazz?"

"Sure thing. Go on, Tuck."

"Later, dude."

Sighing, Danny moved on through the crowd, stomach growling loudly. He hadn't had anything to eat before coming, but at the time he'd assumed the Mansons could afford _real_ food, not weird stuff like goose liver and fish eggs and snails. Bleh.

Voices were raised across the hall. It seemed two financial rivals were all but punching each other over some business transaction. Though he thought it best not to get even remotely involved, especially with Vlad lurking around somewhere, Danny found himself being inexplicably drawn towards the fight. Eyes flashing a momentary green, the ghost boy made his way to the front of the growing crowd around the two enraged men. A contented look involuntarily stole across his face, and his stomach stopped growling.

"Delicious, isn't it?"

Danny's head whipped around to take in Vlad. The billionaire smiled darkly towards the fight, then returned his look to survey Danny after his several month absence.

"It seems the months have treated you well enough." He said conversationally, pointedly ignoring Danny's now clenched fists as he gazed straight ahead to look his foe in the eyes. "It's fitting that as proper foes, we start on an even footing, so to speak."

"What do you want?" Danny growled out harshly, careful to keep his voice low.

"At the moment, the same thing you do Daniel." He replied with wicked amusement. "So much anger, violence; the charged emotions are intoxicating, and quite delicious. I've always been partial to hatred over fear myself. You?" Danny thought he was going to be sick.

"I don't…"

"Don't what?" Vlad interrupted, his own eyes briefly flashing red. "Don't feed off the pain of others like every other ghost? Of course you do. That's why you came over here. I noticed you weren't partial to the caviar so I…nudged this conflict over here along. You looked hungry." Danny wanted very much to punch the man standing in front of him. But he was in a public place, and such luxuries were for the moment beyond him.

"Why?" He hissed, glaring at his enemy and pointedly ignoring the increasingly pleasant sensations he was getting from the nearby fight. As a part ghost, his body might suck up negative energy and enjoy it, but that didn't mean _he_ had to. "Why go through all this trouble to get me to meet you _here_? We can't fight without exposing ourselves. And there's no way you're crazy enough to do _that_."

Vlad flashed Danny a dark, triumphant smile. "You have gotten cleverer; I'll give you that Daniel. The months have indeed been kind." His face grew thoughtful, and he motioned for Danny to walk with him. Not seeing any other choice that would keep Vlad in his sight, he obliged. "Have you ever heard of the great tragedy of the Greek King Laius?" Danny didn't say anything.

"No?" Vlad asked, feigning surprise. "He was the father of Oedipus, you know. A fortune teller once told the king that should he father a son, one day that son would grow powerful and destroy him. Being a prudent man, when Oedipus was born, Laius sent him into the mountains to die of exposure and starvation." Vlad smiled tightly at Danny's obvious incomprehension. Noting the exchange from far off, Sam hastily signaled Jazz and began moving in towards the talking pair.

"You've become very powerful, Daniel." Vlad continued. "And you've not finished yet, if any information I've gathered is accurate. I understand now that you will never be mine, and so you are my enemy. This…public hall is not meant to keep you from attacking me. It's to keep you from leaving."

Eyes widening, Danny looked around the room. Faint glints of a golden metal could be seen on every wall, the ceiling, floor, and every closed door.

"Your parents are indeed brilliant Danny." Vlad said conversationally. "It's too bad you're trapped here, and unable to save one of them." Before Danny could begin to move, Vlad reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small device, and viciously jabbed his thumb on a red button.

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Grinning with joy, Jack once again checked that all the parameters were exact. He knew he'd goofed up in the past, the most memorable incident the time he'd accidentally sucked the entire house into the Ghost Zone. But this time, there was no room for error. If the slightest surge went wrong, Dani would die.

Finally satisfied, Jack moved over the nearest lab table and lifted the large beaker of green ooze towards the large, dead ghost portal.

"Here's hoping." He mumbled towards the goo. "Dani, if you can here me, wish me luck." Backing up, he flipped the main power switch.

There was a brilliant flash of light.

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Damon and Maddie were feet from the door to Tower 22 when a Guys in White agent stepped up right behind them.

"Hold it! I know who you are, so don't try to lie. Explain yourselves. What are you doing here?" Before either could respond, the front door opened and Smith stepped out, looking smug. The agent immediately saluted.

"Are the Towers functional and secure?"

"They are." Smith replied calmly, with a smirk. Maddie looked back and forth between each other uneasily.

"Then," the agent said brusquely, "As a government official, I demand that you immediately hand these towers over to the Guys in White for our use." Smith's smile grew.

"Ah…no. These towers belong to DALV." Damon and Maddie's faces paled. The agent seemed taken aback.

"You will give us the towers or we will take them!" He finally managed to say in a stern voice. For a moment, Smith was silent. Then, he answered.

"Fire."

Beams of light lanced out from the tower and hit the agent square in the chest. The man flew back and hit the ground hard, convulsing with pain and energy discharge as smoke wafted up from a precise convergence point of over ten lasers on his chest. Damon and Maddie stared. Then, returning to reality, both of them fell into fighting poses to engage Smith.

"Stand down if you ever want to see Valerie again." He said coolly. Damon faltered.

"What?"

"She's here, in the basement." He said simply. "She visited last night, apparently tracking what was left of poor Bertrand. It would be a shame if something happened to her."

"You're sick." Maddie whispered, horrified. Smith didn't bat an eyelash.

"Perhaps. But I also have a very powerful, very temperamental employer, and one last task to do before this is over. So if you'll-"

BOOM!

A bright light lit the horizon. Smiling Smith turned around, activating the Tower 22 individual ghost/human shield, which immediately pushed Maddie and Damon back a few feet.

"What was that?" Damon asked aloud.

"My signal to activate the towers." Smith said cheerfully. "You asked about those 'alternate power generators', right, Damon? That's what got you into so much trouble. They're at this tower, you see. I'm told we have the Fentons to thank for the original design. What better way to power the ghost shield than a dozen or so ghost-energy-sucking ectoconverters."

"Oh no." Maddie whispered, eyes going wide. Without a part-ghost child, Damon didn't find this information as distracting.

"That didn't answer my question, Smith." He growled.

"No I suppose not." Smith grinned as the doors started to close. "You see, DALV employed ghosts have been busy in the Fenton home. But they didn't just plant bugs in FentonWorks. They planted bombs."


	15. Battles

Hi! (Wave!)

Glad to see everybody:D Whew. I've been busy online today. I finished my holiday bit, called "A Spirit with Spirit" (plug), and got it up here and on DeviantArt. And it rhymes:D

Love to reviewers! Thanks to: acosta parez jose ramiro, chaotic.calm, The Fluff Ghost (o.O big review...drool...), Meagainsttheworld, Warrior of winds, Nikky Phantom of the Opera, egyptianqueen777, "Linda", Arabic Blessing, ShiroAndFubuki, Sasia93, Unrealistic, AirGirl Phantom, "Quacked Lurker", "NNF", Queen S of Randomness 016, Tornada Silverwind, hermie-the-frog, and bluename. You guys are great. :)

Right, well here is 'Battles', wherein there are...battles. Yeah...(creative name:P ) If Danny seems a bit...violent...at the beginning, please bare in mind that Vlad did just blow up his house with his father inside. And Vlad is right in front of him. Anywho, this is about HALF of the big, climactic battle. Needless to say, it's a LOOONNNGGGG battle. The other half is in chapter 15 - Actions. That one will be up sometime this weekend. Possibly soonish. Then I can wrap up this story by late Sunday. :D Then it's off to the next big thing. Also, just so I have an idea, there are author's notes at the end of this chapter, too, with my two biggest plot bunnies, freshly hatched from plot bunny eggs. (My bunnies come from eggs, it tends to explain Easter better.)

Well, here ya go.

HiddenAuthor

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Chapter 14 – Battles

"Let me resolve this Gregory." Clockwork said coolly as the two ancient ghosts watched the screen.

"No!" His 'boss' shouted. "You're too dangerous, Clockwork. Your powers are not to be used." Clockwork scoffed.

"Without them, how would you have held Pariah still long enough to take his crown and ring?" He challenged. "I laid waste to his castle for you. I locked him away. I turned his near-infinite armies to dust! How would you have won without me?" Greg fell silent. "No answer? Much pain and suffering was avoided because you let me act then. Much pain and suffering can be avoided if you let me act _now_!"

"No." Greg insisted again. "Not unless you are needed."

"Fine." Clockwork stated in a tone that would freeze rivers. "I'm going to the study. If you need me, you know where to find me." As the powerful spirit floated off, he whispered sadly. "I'm sorry Danny. For now, you will have to face this alone."

Greg's eyes were once again locked on the great viewing window, where a huge group of now blatantly weapon-heavy vehicles was rolling towards the center of town, and a certain party.

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"Move in!" Agent S shouted over the hum of his vehicle's engine. "Remember, we have Phantom trapped. He can't attack our agents without proving our 'Spook' articles true. Whatever you do, do not attack him first! We need _him_ to instigate the fight, if there is one!"

"Sir! Still nothing from M sir!" Came the call of a technician in the back. Smith groaned.

"We must assume the worst. If the towers don't activate, Phantom could escape. Everyone be ready."

At that moment, the perimeter towers flared to life, and all of Amity Park was surrounded by a blue glowing wall. Ragged cheers could be heard over the Guys in White intercom.

"Maybe he made it after all." S said, smiling. "Something must be wrong with his COM link. Everybody, M has succeeded; the towers are in GIW control. Let's go get Phantom!"

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Val slumped against the back wall of her cell, resting. To be completely honest with herself, she had no idea how to get out of this mess. Her suit was gone; she was in a ghost-proof fortress, she-

A tapping on her foot drew her attention down. The green puddle that was Bertrand was flailing at her shoe desperately with a crude arm, already trembling with the effort.

"Oh, gross!" Val groaned. "Not only am I trapped in some psycho's basement, now I'm being attacked by a booger! I-" Valerie cut off mid-complaint as she watched the moving goo. It seemed to be using the arm to gesture towards the cell bars. "What?" It gestured more emphatically.

"You can understand me?" The appendage moved up and down. An idea forming, Val bent lower.

"Listen, I don't know who or what you were, but I know Smith did this to you. I can pay him back, but I need your help." The appendage 'nodded' more violently. Picking it up gently, Val moved over to the bars.

"Can you still phase through things?"

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Danny stood absolutely still, eyes wide and horrified, as the sound of the explosion reached his ears. Several of the upper crusts were walking over to the windows to see what had happened. Vlad gave him a dark, wicked smile.

"How sad. If it's any consolation, Daniel, I know that at least dear Maddie wasn't home." The ghost boy started to shake.

"You…" He stuttered. "I…I…" His eyes blazed violent green. "I'll kill you!" Powers forgotten for the moment, Danny launched himself at Vlad, managing to knock the older man to the floor and began punching at his face. He managed to land one solid blow before Vlad phased out, rendering his hits useless.

Sam gasped from nearby, trying to think quickly. She didn't know what that explosion was, but with Danny's reaction, it had to be bad. But if she didn't do something fast, he'd expose himself.

"Everybody out! There's a ghost in here, and it's possessed that boy!"

Pandemonium broke out. Everyone scrambled for the doors except Sam Danny and Vlad. Sam's mouth dropped as she turned to see who had shouted.

"_Grandma_?" Sam ran over to the elderly woman, who was busy waving her hands in theatrical panic. "Get out of here, it's not safe…what are you _doing_?" The elderly woman snorted.

"Clearing the room." She said shortly. "I saw the boy's eyes flash, like in those pamphlets the Fentons hand out. There's a ghost in him, dear. Now how about you go take care of it like you do with that Phantom character?" Sam stared. "I told you. I'm old, not stupid. You've only been caught on film near that ghost a few _dozen_ times. And all that training with Fenton's mother? Your parents can be blind if they want, but I'm not!" Sam didn't say anything for a moment. Danny was shouting incoherently across the room, still punching the floor through Vlad's intangible head. Why wasn't he fighting back?

"Get going, grandma, and thanks." Sam said shortly. Her granny nodded and started off.

"But after, we're having a talk about all of this." She called out as she left. Her eyes briefly flicked to the struggling boy on the floor. "About you ghost hunting, and about the way you look at Phantom."

Slightly shell-shocked from her grandmother's actions, Sam hurried across the now empty room to help. Not seeing what else she could do, Sam rushed over to her psychotic boyfriend and backhanded him across the face. Eyes widening in surprise at her actions, Danny flew halfway across the floor and landed against a nearby wall, panting.

"Wh-what?" Danny mumbled dazedly, wincing at the ache in his head.

"Not now, Danny!" Sam shouted as Vlad got up, quietly brushed himself off, and slowly started walking away. "What's going on?" Danny shook his head.

"Vlad…pushed a button…" he started, the story coming back again. "And…and then…" His eyes widened. "He killed dad!" White rings immediately flew up and down his length, and Phantom flew towards Vlad. This time, Masters quickly changed forms and parried. Ectoblasts flew back and forth, disintegrating tables and chairs. Danny shouted in rage and shot beams from his fists and eyes at his arch foe, then teleported under him and blasted the ghost at full strength from beneath. The force of the blow sent Danny crashing to the floor on his back. Vlad rocketed up to the ceiling, first colliding and then breaking through. Energy discharge rocketed up, blasting off the roof.

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The sounds of screaming made S pull over and step out of the van. Hundreds of people in very expensive clothes were stampeding down the road.

"Ghost! At the Manson House!" One gentleman managed to shout as they thundered past. Smith quickly jumped back into the driver's seat and hit the gas.

"We've got our target! Move!"

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The wreckage of Sam's roof rained down around the two ghosts, floating in midair apart from one another beneath a glowing blue dome. Danny panted heavily, eyes understandably wet. He couldn't understand why he felt so tired. Gulping, he took a few steadying breaths and exerted all his willpower to not go into another berserk rage on the creature that had killed his father. This wasn't the time to fight with rage; he didn't have the energy. He'd have to fight smart and play this out until he got his strength back.

"Why?" He shouted at the monster in front of him "Why dad? Why me? Why couldn't you leave us alone?" Vlad laughed loudly, a slightly manic edge to his mirth.

"I've dreamt of this day for _years_." Vlad shouted, looking almost as surprised as Danny that he'd actually killed his old friend. "That buffoon was never good enough for Maddie, even _he_ knew that! I was always her perfect match. But then I got hospitalized and _they got wedding rings_!" He shouted, eyes burning a red so dark it was almost black, his face taking on the burden of maddening inner pain. "I was a monster! A freak! _You _had those ridiculous little sidekicks, you couldn't understand. I was totally alone! But I knew Maddie would understand me, accept me, _love_ me! Instead of a monster, I could have been a god! But she chose _him_! He was my friend, _and he took her from me_!" Panting, Vlad chuckled darkly. "But she's mine now, and with the portal gone, you'll be trapped in this town until you die of ectoplasm starvation!"

Determination crossing his features, Danny closed his eyes and prepared to teleport. Plasmius had…taken…his father, but he wouldn't let him have his mom. As much as he wanted to hurt this monster, protecting her was more important. A moment later, he screamed, clasping his head between his hands as the mother of all headaches wracked his skull. Wherever she was, Maddie was surrounded by a shield, or Ethren. He couldn't reach her. Vlad laughed again.

"You understand now, do you? Why you feel so tired? I feel it too." Vlad confided, almost giddy. Apparently he thought Danny had tried to escape. "Ectoconverters, wired into the shield." He pointed up. "They're quite literally sucking the life out of us." He said cheerfully, grinning. "My plan almost came undone when I saw you shift into the ghost zone without a portal. An extraordinary power. But luckily," he held up a finger, beaming insanely, "Skulktech had the answer. You fought him, you see, and from that, I found the answer. Your little trick didn't work then. And after running a test or three, I found out why. You can't switch planes inside a working ghost shield!" Laughing, Vlad floated up and scanned the horizon.

Danny was nonplussed, even through his anger and roaring headache. He'd never seen Vlad act this way. It was like actually killing Jack had made him snap. Granted, it had done it to him, and it took everything in him not to snap again, but _Vlad_?

"If that's true, then we'll both die!" He shouted as he flew up to engage Vlad once again. The madman lifted a finger.

"Oh, no!" He said. "You see, my bo…no, not my boy, my _enemy_. You see, _I_ control the towers!" He beamed. "I'll just head on over there and slip through. They'll drop part of the shield for me to get out, and leave you here to die. Checkmate!"

Laughing, Vlad took off. Danny teleported above him and swung his joined fists down as hard as he could. A huge CRACK filled the air as he connected with Vlad's skill, and a temporarily stunned Plasmius flew towards the concrete below, forming a very large crater. Coughing, Vlad stood up in the gloom as Danny flew downward, the blow working for him as it had for Danny. His eyes were clear again, if filled with pain from the blow.

"Fine!" He shouted. "Attack me! Drain your energy! So long as I hold myself back, you'll run out of energy long before me, and I'll just walk out! Then you'll die faster!"

A violent blue blast took him in the back, slamming him back down. Danny narrowly avoided another.

"These ghosts are attacking the city of Amity Park!" Agent S shouted as the small army of militarized vans rolled to a stop. "Take them both down!"

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Damon and Maddie stood outside Tower 22's shield barrier, at a loss for what to do. Motion to the side of the door drew their attention. A familiar figure plugged a small device into the security panel on the wall.

"Tucker!" Damon and Maddie shouted. The boy gave a brusque nod of the head and kept working at a furious pace. Given his attitude, he'd probably heard every word Smith said. "How did you find us?"

"I found Valerie." Tucker answered shortly, still furiously typing away. "She never showed up at the Manson party, so I took off to find her. I hid a tracking chip in her suit when she wasn't looking." The boy paused in his work and threw Damon a brief, pleading look that reminded the man much more of his usual self. "_Please_ don't tell her?" Damon chuckled in spite of the situation as Tucker went back to work.

"I followed the signal to this tower, saw that Smith guy stepping out to meet that agent and you two, and decided to hide behind the tower, close to the wall. The shield must have popped up half an inch in front of my nose." He shuddered briefly at the visual of what might have happened if he hadn't been so close to the tower. "And now, I'm off to save my girlfriend!" He jabbed a few final keys on his PDA, and the tower's private shield died. Moments later, the doors popped open. Maddie hurried forward, dragging a nonplussed Damon with her.

"You shut off the shield and hacked the door at the same time?" He asked, staring. Tucker shrugged, only blushing slightly.

"I was motivated." Came the brief response as the trio ran inside and down a flight of stairs. All three pulled up short at the sight.

Smith was lying on the ground, unconscious. There was an indented boot mark across his face and he was covered head to toe in bruises. Valerie was sitting at the console, negligently rubbing her fist.

"Hey. What took you guys so long?" She asked nonchalantly. Tucker stormed over, turning bright red.

"What took?...What…you!!!" He sputtered. His arm flew back and cocked at the elbow, and for a moment it looked like he was going to deck her. A second later, that same hand flew forward.

And wrapped around a very surprised huntress's back, pulling her forward into a kiss. A second later, Tucker let go and hugged her as tight as he could. Damon coughed in the background. Tucker immediately dropped the man's daughter and backed up, blushing slightly. Val looked a bit red herself.

"I'm just glad…you're…okay." He mumbled lamely.

"Right." Damon said, visibly suppressing the memory. "Now that we're here, let's try and shut down that ghost shield. I don't know why they wanted it up, but it can't be good."

"They're after Danny." Val said. Damon raised an eyebrow.

"Phantom!" Tucker finished. "Danny Phantom. They're trying to trap him. I got it all over this." He pointed at the Fenton phone in his ear. "It was Plasmius." A second later he winced.

"What?" Maddie asked, concerned. Tucker turned pale.

"D-, uh, Phantom…screamed." He said quietly.

"Go!" Maddie shouted, pushing Damon into the console chair. His fingers flew over the keyboard. A few moments later, a large schematic came up. The man pounded his head against the controls.

"I can't turn off the shield." He said dully. "Each tower has to be manually deactivated, and they're inaccessible through those shields." Maddie sat down hard.

"But what about attacking them?" She asked. Damon shrugged.

"Most of the energy would be absorbed into the shield and run back through the generators to feed the shields, making them stronger." He said at last. "It would take a massive attack to overload the circuits. Something incredibly powerful. And even if we did that, we'd have to take out almost half of the towers before the shield died. Most of the generators are redundant." After a second look at the plans, the man brightened. "But maybe there's something we _can _do."

"What?" All three of the others asked anxiously.

"All of the ectoconverters are in this tower!" He said. "With me running the program for so long, they must not have had time to distribute them. We can stop the shield from sucking up Phantom's energy!"

"How long?" Maddie asked. Damon was already typing.

"An hour." He said at last, sinking. "There are almost fifty of them, and each one has an individual code lock on it. If I mess up once on _any_ of them, I'll get locked out of the system, the ones I shut down will reset, and I'll have to start over."

"Right." Said Val, picking up her confiscated weapons. "In that case, I'm going to help Phantom."

"No way Val." Tucker said, grabbing the guns. "You've already been through who-knows-what, there's no way you're going out there _now_." The huntress smiled and ripped the weapons from her boyfriend's hands.

"Tucker, playing the knight in shining armor for me was very sweet, but Phantom needs us, and I don't have time to argue." She said, slipping on the mask. "Who's the better shot?"

"You are." Tucker said grudgingly.

"Who's better with the weaponry?" Val asked, strapping on a blaster.

"You are." He responded, glaring at her.

"Who's a ninth degree black belt?" Defeated, Tucker sighed and sat down. Smith stirred slightly. Tucker kicked him in the head. The man fell back down.

"I'll be back." Val said in determination, and flew off. A few seconds later, Tucker stood up, grabbed his PDA, and started off after her. Maddie grabbed his hand.

"Tucker, you don't have a weapon." The boy shook his head.

"Doesn't matter. I left enough for a small army with Jazz; I'll pick some up there. No _way _she fights out there on her own." Tearing free, Tucker ran up the stairs after Valerie. Maddie gave Damon a small smile.

"I know, Mads. Believe me, I know."

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Shouting in rage at the meddling agents, Vlad duplicated himself and launched a volley of attacks against the GIW vans. Two exploded in a roar of green, ecto-charged flames, and one narrowly avoided the same fate. Taking the opportunity, Danny flew down and aimed an ectoblast at the back of one of the Vlad's' heads. A shield popped up, and another Vlad became visible in front of him, leering up. The next GIW blast took Danny in the side of the head.

"AHH!" He shouted flying to the side and grabbing the side of his head. The blast had been weaker than that demonstration his parents gave, he was sure of that, but the skin wasn't closing. He really _was_ losing energy to the shield!

"Hey!" He shouted down at the agents. "_I'm_ not attacking you. Back off!"

"You can't fool us, Phantom!" S shouted as he stood up, an ecto-bazooka strapped to each arm. "There's never been a benevolent ghost as powerful as you! You can't survive on earth without pain and suffering to keep you alive! And we won't let you win! For K!" Shouting a battle cry, S launched a dual blast at the ghost boy, who quickly teleported a way, panting with the unusual effort. He hadn't felt this powerless for a long time. Watching Vlad's moderate success, he tried to duplicate himself. He wasn't really surprised to find he couldn't.

"Geez, at this rate I'll be back to year one powers in a few minutes!" He groaned, flying back towards the battle, focusing his efforts on Vlad. "Try not to hit the agents." He said to himself, determined. "They may be jerks, but they really do think they're fighting a bad guy. Like Valerie did." Grunting in pain at another GIW blast, he landed a solid punch, taking out two Vlad clones at once.

"Although." He said to himself, wincing. "That might get a _little_ hard to remember if this keeps up."

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Jazz stared down at the wreckage, numb inside. The last several minutes were a blur to her. Hearing Vlad on the headphones, seeing the explosion, abandoning the weapons and running to her car, driving…

Home. It was gone. All gone. Rubble littered the street all around. The entire building was missing, empty air where her room used to be. And the lab…

"Daddy." She whispered in a small voice, walking forward slowly and ripping rocks and rubble up off the ground. A small rational part of her mind knew that this was pointless, but the rest of her wasn't listening. On the far side of the disaster area, a mound of debris collapsed and fell inward, a large plume of dust rising up from beneath. Jazz let out a strangled sob.

"Sorry about that." The older girl's head whipped around.

"I had to drop the shield when I phased us out." Dani looked over at the rubble with wide eyes. Jack was lying on the ground behind her, unconscious.

"D-Dani?" Jazz asked desperately. The girl's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"Huh. That sounds right. That's…my name?" Jazz nodded mutely. The girl's eyes widened.

"You're Jazz!" She said loudly, clearly pleased to remember. Jazz nodded again. "And this is Jack. And…where's Danny?" She asked suddenly.

"That way, with Vlad." Jazz pointed. Dani's eyes flared deadly green.

"Vlad." She hissed angrily. "I remember that name, too."

A second later, she was gone.

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Danny groaned from under a makeshift shield of concrete. Being a good guy really had its drawbacks. After seeing that Danny wouldn't attack the Guys in White, Vlad had changed his strategy. He was floating overhead somewhere, invisible, dealing Danny the occasional blast while the well-intentioned military agents moved in for the kill. Between the constant blasts and the life-draining shield, he didn't know how much longer he could last.

"It would be so easy." A voice whispered in his ear. Danny whipped around and blasted energy from his eyes. A chuckle filled the void around him.

"I read your journal, Danny." Vlad's voice continued, taunting. "I know that deep down, you're like me. I know what you were meant to be. I read about the power, the fear, the strength you shall have! These agents are nothing, mere puppets in a much larger scheme. I know that, and you know that. They think they're saving this town, but the only way you'll survive this is to kill them."

"I won't!' Danny snarled, wincing as a heavy hit jammed the shield down on top of him. "I'm not like you, murderer!" There was a long pause.

"Then die." Came the answer, followed by a rush of wind. Plasmius was running!

"Ahh!" A shout rang out an instant later. All shots stopped. Curiosity overpowering caution, Danny shoved the slab away and stood up, squinting past the rising dust. Vlad was sprawled on the ground with a bloody lip. Above him…

"Dani?" He called incredulously, eyes going wide. "You're alive?" Dani shot him an amused glance, dodging all the redirected GIW fire.

"No more than usual." She shouted down. "Just had to drop Mr. Fenton off somewhere safe before I showed up!" Danny froze, eyes lighting up for the first time in half an hour.

"He's alive?" He shouted up, floating towards the girl he hadn't seen in months. Dani nodded smugly, relief flooding her face when the agents started shooting at her cousin too.

Unseen by either of them, a red-eyed ghost furiously rose up in Amity Park's newest crater, glowering. As his eyes took in a nearby spectator, his mouth twisted once more into a vicious grin.

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Valerie flew toward Fenton Works, mouth agape. It looked like nothing was left! Coming in closer, she spotted two familiar figures huddled in the debris.

"Jazz! Mr. Fenton!" She called out, landing and retracting her suit. Seeing his unmoving form, the huntress rushed up to the older hunter.

"Is he okay?" She asked breathlessly. Jazz shook her head.

"He's breathing." She said finally, but that's about it. I can't get him to wake up. He needs to get to a hospital, but I couldn't leave him alone! Where are the ambulances? Where are the people?" She looked around desperately.

"I saw a bunch of them near the Manson house." Val answered. "A bunch of people got trampled over there in a ghost panic. A few have burns from stray ectoblasts. There'll be one soon."

"There's no time!" Jazz shouted, looking down at her father. "Val, he was _inside_ when it happened. He could be bleeding internally! He needs a doctor now!" Val bit her lip, momentarily indecisive.

"I'll take him." She said at last, clicking out her hover board. Jazz looked at it warily. "It's stronger than it looks, okay?" Val said in exasperation. "We need to fix up a carrying pouch for him and tie it under the board. I can fly him to the hospital in a minute flat, and I can go right over all the Guys in White vans instead of getting stuck." Finally nodding agreement, Jazz ran up to a nearby house and broke the window. A few minutes later she came back with some blankets.

"We can always explain later." She said, and the two got to work.

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Sam watched as Danny and his cousin were reunited amid violent blue energy rays. She'd never been so grateful for anything in her entire life. Not only had Dani survived, but Jack had too! Satisfied that the ghost boy was at least momentarily safe, relatively speaking, Sam decided to head for the park and that stockpile of ghost weapons.

A clawed hand grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Well if it isn't the girlfriend." Vlad hissed as she struggled in his grip, hand firmly over her mouth. "You'll make a _perfect_ shield, my dear." Grinning victoriously, Vlad dragged her off towards the charred remains of her house's west wing. "Let's get under cover first, though. No sense risking that pretty face."

Sam struggled in his grip every step of the way, but the ghostly strength of her captor seemed unbreakable. She tried anyway.

They were well away from the fighting and out of sight when she finally managed to free her hand for a punch. She made it count.

Vlad dropped her in a split second, gasping. As Sam fell into a fighting stance, Vlad recovered and fixed her with a glare that promised death. Black belt or not, there was no way she could take on Plasmius alone.

"Danny!" She shouted, holding her defensive stance and dodging an eyebeam with a side flip. "Anybody! Help!"

Danny didn't appear. But someone did.

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Agent S watched with wide eyes as the blue, Vampire-like ghost backed away with the Manson girl in tow. The rash, stupid part of his mind screamed for him to shout a warning, but his discipline caught up and he clamped down on his tongue. Shout one word and the ghost would fly away in a blink. As long as it was sneaking along, he might be able to catch it.

Handing his mic to a very confused agent, S jumped from the van and followed as quickly and silently as he could, careful not to draw attention from Phantom. One ghost was bad enough. As he approached the ruins of the Manson home, he watched as Sam delivered a _very_ illegal fighting move. He smiled approvingly as she backed up into a fighting stance, and started edging forward, ectogun charged.

"Danny! Anybody! Help!" S groaned, looking up to see if Phantom heard. Why on earth would the girl call a ghost? But there was no more time to worry if she was heard, he needed to take this ghost out _now_, or she was as good as dead.

A blur in a red hat rushed out behind the ghost.

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"Danny!" Danny froze midair and turned towards the mansion. That was Sam's voice! Where was she? Where was Vlad?

"Oh my gosh! Sam!" He shouted, flying as fast as he could, oblivious to the dozens of free hits the agents were getting in. He desperately wished he knew if she was surrounded by Ethren but was unwilling to risk the time to find out. As it was, he'd be there in only two seconds, but who knows what could happen by then?

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Tucker panted as he ran back from the weapons trove, a handful of different gadgets in tow. He didn't know where the girls were, but Danny was ahead, so they probably were too. And he was going to help.

Halfway along, he heard scuffling. Turning, he watched horrified as Vlad dragged Sam into the ruins of her house. He took off as fast as he could.

Tucker made it to the edge of the ruined ballroom just as Sam wiggled free and dealt Vlad a savage blow. Despite the situation, Tuck had to smile at that one. _So_ Sam.

"Danny!" She shouted. "Anybody! Help!" Tucker looked down desperately at his choices in weapons. Whatever he picked, it had to take Vlad out fast. Eyes finally resting on his only hope, he swallowed and prayed nobody was around. Vision locked on his target, Tucker ran up to Plasmius.

And hit him with the Maximus.

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MORE NOTES:

Hey, long one, huh:P

Anywho, here are my two favorite plot bunnies. Let me know which of them, if any, you like. I'll probably follow one of these next.

1. Future fic, after Hopes or after Canon. Danny and Sammy have a kiddie. It's been done, I know, but I think I can do something new with it. The kid is partially inspired by the Pixar short film "Jack-Jack Attack." In other words, funny and scary at the same time.

2. Present/Imminent Future fic. After Hopes or after Canon. Danny has ice powers. Neat. They were always a part of him. Again, neat. But why do they surface so powerfully now, and manifest when he's human? Genetics can be funny, and some changes take time. What happens if Danny's ghost half starts taking over his human half? Not mentally. Physically.

-

I personally like the second one more, but I want to know what you guys think. I'll be listening. And please remember, Anonymous Reviewers are now allowed. :D


	16. Actions

o.O

FORTY TWO REVIEWS IN TWO DAYS! OH MY GOD! Um, I think my last chapter was liked, or something. Ehe... Wow, I just hope this one lives up to the last one. This is Actions, where Actions are taken. The ending is a bit abrupt, but it's also spectacular (not necessarily good, but definitely big). One chapter to go, wherin you will learn why these three are a trilogy and not just a loosely associated series, and what's been happening behind the scenes since book one, and why Clockwork does what he does, and what's up with Danny and everybody else. Yeah, I think that one will be a big chapter too.

Love to reviewers. Uh...(deep breath)...thanks to: MarinJayde, Airgirl Phantom, Dark Dagzar, Esme Kali Phantom, The Fluff Ghost, hermie-the-frog, mattchew, bluename, Butterflywing, egyptianqueen777, Epona Harper, "NLN", Meagainsttheworld, BratCat, Sasia93, Diamond Raider, Nikky Phantom of the Opera, acosta parez jose ramiro, "Lisel", Unrealistic, whirlgirl, nathow111, chaotic.calm, "Tej", Blues59, "Quacked Lurker", "Linda", SevenStar, XME, "Jennifer Price", "Kirika Moonshadow", JDPhoenix, "NNF", Pieling, Dragon of Despair, Warrior of winds, Egyptian Ghost Kitty, December's Morose, "Sharpwind", Nonasuki-chan, Funkatron, and Queen S of Randomness.

o.O I'm still freaking out a little bit about that.

Oh, and one more thing. This is a trilogy, but several people don't like calling it the trilogy. Any ideas? I got nothin.

Byes!

HiddenAuthor

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Chapter 15 – Actions

In the swirling depths of the desolate plane called the Ghost Zone, a lone castle floated in the void. A steady ticking could usually be heard from the thousands upon thousands of intricately connected gears and pendulums. But at the moment, this was not the case.

You couldn't hear a thing over Greg screaming.

"CLOCKWORK!" Shouted the council leader, running down the halls of the vast castle towards the study. "Answer me!"

There was no response. Gregory ran faster. In his haste, he almost smacked into the closed Study door. Shaking with his efforts, the diminutive ghost tore the door open and barreled in.

Clockwork looked up, five cards in his hand. A moment later he shrugged and looked down again, throwing his hand to the tabletop. A pair of threes. Shrugging, the Ghost of Time shuffled the deck and dealt himself a new hand. The councilor finally stopped ogling at the spectacle and cleared his throat loudly. With a flick of his fingers, Clockwork hid his new hand and finally gave the intruder his attention.

"Yes, Gregory?" The Time Ghost asked mildly, turning in his seat with a neutral expression.

"Masters has been revealed! To a _government agent_!" Clockwork shrugged.

"Actually, Danny is about to be exposed as well. What's your point?" Gregory started at the cool spirit, mouth working soundlessly. Eventually, he managed to find his voice.

"What's my _point_? Are you _mad_? Everything's come undone! The hybrids will multiply, and our world will end!" Clockwork sniffed, and looked back at his hand for a moment.

"You're being very dramatic, Gregory, but once again you seem to mistakenly think something is wrong. The past can never be wrong, it just is. Besides, I doubt a little change will end the world."

"A _little_ change?"

"And I did offer to personally handle the situation." The Time Ghost continued. "You said no. What's done is done. We both know changing the past _always_ creates a paradox and well," he chuckled, "that would be against the rules." Greg stared.

"That's not the point! You must be able to do something. Fix this! Now!" Clockwork shrugged again.

"What are your orders? _How_ am I supposed to fix this?"

"I don't know. I don't _care!_ Do something, and your charges will be dropped! Just _don't let the Guys in White find out_!" And with that, Greg vanished in a brilliant flash, off to inform his fellow councilors of the news.

Clockwork sat alone in his study for some time. Then, with a small smile, he dropped his hand. Royal Flush.

"I may not know everything, but I'm still the best bluffer, alive or dead." He chuckled, summoning his staff. Thus equipped, he immediately went to the viewing window to see exactly what was going on. Hopefully he wouldn't have to alter time _too_ much. But if he was careful, if he was precise…

Perhaps he could settle this half-ghost matter once and for all.

With a quiet smile, the powerful spirit spun his staff in the air, and vanished.

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"Ahhh!" Vlad shouted in pain as the Maximus did its work. Dark rings ran over the length of his body, changing him back into a human. Eyes rolling up in his head, the older hybrid collapsed at Tucker's feet.

"Is he dead?" Sam asked quietly, looking down at the man with wide eyes. Gulping, Tucker dropped to one knee and laid his finger on the man's neck.

"No more than usual." He announced at last. Seconds later, Danny landed beside him, and changed back to his human form, panting with exhaustion.

"He's alive?" Tucker nodded. "Swell. Between the shock and those shields," he gestured up, "he probably didn't have enough energy to stay awake." Danny groaned. "Unbelievable. After all this, I'm gonna have to fight the 'good guys' on the Guys in White and bring down that shield so I can save _Vlad_."

"Freeze! You…whatever you are!" Danny actually obeyed for a second, gasping. Eyes wide, the three friends turned to see a stunned, shaking agent pointing an ectogun straight at Danny's chest. "Don't move!" Collecting himself, he pulled a radio to his face. "All units! This is Commander Agent S. I…don't know how, but these ghosts are-"

A blast blew the radio straight off of his face and vaporized it midair. S seemed unharmed, but his eyes shot wide. Standing by Vlad, hand outstretched and smoking, was Danny. Danny _Fenton_.

"Wh-what _are _you?" S stuttered, involuntarily backing up a step. Danny rolled his eyes.

"I get that a lot." He said sarcastically. A second later, the kid was somehow _behind_ him, gripping him tightly around the chest. S struggled for a second, but despite his years of training, _he couldn't move_! Tucker and Sam started cautiously approaching.

"I don't want to hurt you!" His captor said loudly, tightening his grip. "You're a jerk, but you're still trying to do the right thing. I'm sorry about the radio, but people can't find out about me."

"Let me go, ghost!" He shouted, struggling harder. "Kid! Whatever! I am a Guys in White agent! Holding me against my will is a Federal Crime!"

"Yeah? Murder's a crime too, and there's no way I'm letting you kill me!" Danny shouted.

"We're not here to kill you!" S shouted. Danny froze, stunned, almost letting his prisoner go in his surprise. "We were trying to capture you so we could question you and send you back to the Ghost Zone! Admit it; you _know_ you're too powerful to be trusted amongst humans!" Danny swallowed.

"I-if I let you go, will you promise to stay there, and tell me what's going on?" Came his eventual question. S gave a brusque nod. Suddenly, he was phasing through the boy's arms, crashing to the floor in front of him. "Talk."

S brushed himself off. "I'm one of two agents assigned to bringing you in to Guys in White custody." He answered stiffly. "The former head agent, K, was…damaged. He can't remember anything about you or his last mission, and seems almost…_programmed_ not to look for you. I was sent to catch you so we could find out what you _did_ to him, fix it, and send you back to the Ghost Zone. Some of those articles I wrote might not have been true, but the public wouldn't hear of it if we accused their 'precious perfect Phantom' of any wrong. We know it was you! You can play hero all you want, but no good person would drive an honest man like K insane!" Danny paled, sitting down hard.

"He's really that bad?" He asked in a small voice. S stopped mid-rant and stared at the boy. "He…he's crazy now?"

S sat still for a while, silent, giving Danny his full attention. The ghost boy shifted uncomfortably under the prolonged gaze, but eventually the man stopped and stood up.

"What are you kid?" He asked. "What are you really?" Danny shook his head.

"I don't know." He answered honestly. "I freak out you guys because I'm a ghost, but ghosts don't trust me because I'm human. And you both think I'm way too powerful." He chucked hollowly. "I think so, too, but I can't change who I am. But if more people knew, I'd be strapped to a table and cut open in half a second. My own _parents_ wanted to do that before they knew it was me. You can't tell anyone!" S shook his head.

"Look kid, I'm sorry about your troubles." He said professionally as he stood. "I can't believe I actually feel sorry for a…well, whatever you are. But you need someone to look at you. Understand you. It's nothing personal," he added walking off. Danny didn't move to stop him, and quickly motioned for Sam and Tucker to stay still as well. "I just need to know you won't hurt the people I'm supposed to protect."

Danny nodded mutely, sitting down. What could he do? This man was trying to protect people, just like him. He wasn't going to hurt an innocent man. Even if he _was_ exposed.

"Time. Out." S froze mid-stride. Spinning his staff, The Ghost of Time appeared with a flourish. Danny stared for a second, before breaking into a hopeful grin.

"C-Clockwork?" His mentor and friend nodded.

"Cleared of all charges." He said cheerfully. "Provided I can clean up this mess. Nice job keeping the peace, by the way." Despite the situation, Danny managed to get affronted by that.

"How exactly was I supposed to _stop _this?" He asked in exasperation as the two walked past his frozen friends and went over to S, gesturing around him emphatically. "Vlad I can handle. The Guys in White I can handle. I was ready for an evil plot. But _two plots at the same time_? Clockwork, I know you're old and wise and all that junk, but that's not fair!" The Time Ghost Chuckled as they came to a stop.

"No, it's not." He agreed. "But if it's any consolation, I expected you to fail." For a second, it looked like Danny was frozen, too.

"_What_?"

"I'll tell you later." His mentor said conspiratorially as he waved his hand through S's head. "That should do it." He said in satisfaction. "Short term memory resets after several hours, and I just gave that part of his brain a few weeks, just to be safe. He won't remember a thing." Clockwork frowned distastefully. "He'll also wake up in a few hours with a roaring headache. "The Time Ghost turned to go.

"Hold it!" Danny called, changing back to Phantom form. Clockwork stopped, and turned around with a questioning look. "Thanks for the save, Clockwork, really. But there's still one small problem. How am I supposed to fix _that_?" He asked, gesturing upwards at the glowing dome above them. Though time was frozen, the second Clockwork left it would start draining him again, and possibly stealing energy Vlad needed to stay alive. The Time Ghost shrugged, a quiet smile on his face.

"Just do your best Danny. I'm sure you'll be able to take that barrier down. In time." Still smiling his quiet smile, Clockwork floated up and started to fly away. "In the meantime, you should probably go take care of your cousin. That agent's last broadcast didn't sound good, you know."

And the next second, time moved once more, and Clockwork was gone.

"Oh my gosh! Dani!"

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"Move over!" Val pushed hard against her passenger, mentally ruing the day she'd decided to be such a quiet, sensitive, caring person. Jazz shrieked in fear and wrapped her arms around Valerie's neck in a death grip.

It had taken several minutes, but the two had finally managed to get Jack wrapped up in the large blanket and tied under the jet board. Val had been all set to zip off to the hospital and drop the man off when they ran into their first real problem.

Jazz wanted to come too.

So now the pair of them were sharing the tiny, narrow, slippery board, and Jazz had no balance, no traction boots, and a rapidly developing fear of heights.

"Jazz…" Val coughed, sucking in air desperately. "Let…go…"

"Are you insane?" Jazz shrieked, tightening her grip. Valerie was seeing stars. Did Jazz work out or something?

"If you don't…" She gasped, "I'm gonna pass out. Can _you_ fly?" The grip on her neck lessened instantly, but Jazz still had her body close up to Val's, eyes tight shut.

"Slow down!" She called.

"Come on! We're only going thirty miles an hour! We could have driven there faster!" She yelled angrily.

"Why didn't we?" Jazz whimpered. Val scowled

"Because _I_ didn't know _you_ wanted to tag along, and _I_ could have been to the hospital ten times by now if I were alone!" She shouted. "We're missing the fight!"

"I-I'm sure they're fine!" The older girl stuttered, looking down to check her father and then once again strangling the huntress after a glimpse of the ground. "Let's just get to the hospital."

Val sighed, turning her sights ahead once more. Her quite literal pain in the neck passenger was probably right. What could happen in just a few minutes?

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It had only been a few minutes since Danny left, but Dani was _not_ having fun. Dodging another barrage of laser beams from enraged GIW agents, the ghost girl flipped in midair and dove underground. She managed about fifteen feet before she hit the _very_ solid ghost shield. The brief contact with the surface sent waves of cold nausea through her body and sucked the very life from her. Gasping, she managed to find a small underground air pocket, now caught between an army of angry men with guns and a life sucking energy wall that drained her more the closer she got.

"This is not fair." She said to the world in general, lighting up her left hand with energy to get out of the dark. "I wake up after being a _puddle_ for half a year, I'm only _just_ getting my head back together, and what happens? My _house_ blows up! And I'm surrounded by a bunch of big jerks who want to blast me for no reason, and now that stupid shield thing is sucking me dry! How can life reek this much?"

"Welcome to my life." Came a dry voice behind her. Sagging with relief, Dani rotated to see Danny float up behind her, looking relieved to see her.

"Is it over?" She asked. Even _she_ thought it was a dumb question. Danny snorted.

"Yeah right. I single-handedly brought down an entire army of armed government agents, broke through an impenetrable force field designed to suck my life out and resist even my most powerful attacks, locked Vlad away, and proved my innocence. I just came down here because I was bored."

"Well, you don't have to be sarcastic about it. The last few months haven't been that great for me, you know." Dani scowled. "And what are you talking about? I thought it was just Vlad and the GIW."

"Tell you later." Danny said shortly, starting to leave. Dani moved to follow. "Right now we need to save Vlad." The ghost girl pulled up short.

"Wait, _what_?" Danny scowled.

"He's out of power, and the shield's still up. If we don't shut it off, he's toast. Now let's go." The two of them took off towards the shield wall.

"And that's bad _why_?"

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"Maddie, can we talk?" Maddie looked up from her seat on Smith's chest and set down the little green blob that kept following her around.

"What is it, Damon?" Mr. Gray's eyes remained fixed on the screen, his fingers flying, but his voice carried more than enough expression for the older huntress.

"You…seem very close to Phantom." He said as he broke into yet another automated ectoconverter."

"Is that a bad thing? He is a friend." Maddie said slowly, trying to keep her tone even.

"No, no!" He amended hastily. "It's just…Maddie, when Valerie was in trouble here, you looked worried, but I know I was far more concerned than you. She's my daughter; it makes sense." He sighed. "But when you heard about these converters, you…you seemed much more afraid." He still hadn't turned to look at her, but Mrs. Fenton thought she heard faint accusation in his voice.

"I suppose…I didn't think Valerie was in as much danger. Hostages are only good alive, Damon. You know that. And Smith couldn't hurt her while he was up here with us." The security director nodded slightly, resigned.

"I suppose so. But still, you must really care about him. How well do you know Phantom, anyway?" Maddie smiled slightly.

"He's like family."

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"Agents!" A lookout shouted. "There! At the walls! Phantom is trying to break out!"

All agents returned to their vehicles, preparing to rush the walls.

"Sir!" One last straggler ran up, panting. "We found S, sir! He's back at that ballroom, out cold! And there's some civilian with him!"

The up-jumped assistant agent forced down his uncertainty and turned to regard the man sternly. "Go back and give them medical attention. We will proceed to the walls. Move out!" Saluting, the straggler watched the trucks turn away. Both of his charges had seemed stable, but he'd have to hurry back to make sure they stayed that way. S had obviously followed one of the ghosts into the ruined mansion and been knocked out.

But why was that other man there?

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"Hah!" Danny shouted, punching his ecto-charged fist against the shield barrier with as much strength as he could. Nothing. "Haaaaaaa-oooooooooooooooooooooooo!" He shrieked, turning his own devastating Ghostly Wail on the barrier as Dani continued her own barrage. Exhausted both by the Wail and his proximity to the life-sucking wall, Danny sank to his knees on the ground, gasping for breath.

"Of course." He complained between gasps. "Vlad…knew…I could do…that. Did the fruitloop…think…of _everything_?"

A moment later Dani was gasping beside him. "Well…last I checked…Vlad was losing." She wheezed. "And apparently…we're saving…him. Why was that again?"

Frowning, Danny braced himself and floated back up to try the wall again.

"Dani, I know you hate Vlad. _I_ hate Vlad. But if we let him die when we could have helped, we won't be any better than _he_ is." He gulped. "He's evil, but we can't _kill_ him." After a while, Dani nodded.

The two were about to try joint attacks when the Guys in White arrived again.

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Clockwork gulped as he floated, unseen, near the center of the giant blue dome. His plan had gone well, thus far. And now he was only one step away from stopping the council's fear-induced manipulations of time once and for all. But there _were_ a few risks with this one. Last check, things stood at 86 to 14 in his favor, but he wasn't near his viewing window now, and he wouldn't be able to see if the right future was currently lined up. He was reaching blind.

After visibly bracing himself, Clockwork opened the gate.

"That wall needs to come down." He said to himself. "I'm not strong enough. But I know someone who is. I just hope that's who I got."

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"Attack the ghosts!"

Danny and Dani's heads whipped around to take in the army of Guys in White agents, all armed with very large guns.

"They've trapped themselves against the shield! There's no escape! Take! Them! _DOWN_!"

The air filled with blue fire. Screaming in pain at over twenty burns in half a second, both half ghosts flew apart and then up, following the curve of the barrier to try and pass over the army. Fire concentrated in front of them, forcing them to turn.

"Grab on to me!" Danny screamed, reaching out to Danielle as he cart wheeled in midair to head back the way he came. "I'll get us out!" Maybe he couldn't leave the city, but he could still teleport to somewhere else inside!"

Choking back a cry of pain, Dani thrust her bleeding hand into Danny's and he focused with every fiber of his being. A blast took him in the side of the head.

"Danny!" Screaming, Dani dived down to catch the knocked out ghost boy before he fell into the clutches of the dozens upon dozens of agents below. Burns covered her from head to toe, but she couldn't bother dodging now.

Gritting her teeth, Danielle scooped Danny up in midair and flipped over onto her back, flying upside down back towards the wall. She managed to throw in a swerve or two as she went, but these were pathetic efforts at best to deflect fire. But what else could she do? Drop him?

Groaning, Danny managed to open one eye.

"You're alive!" Dani screamed, flipping back to her side and letting him take to the air again on his own. Wincing, Danny put on a hesitant smile and gave his rescuer a shaky thumbs up as they continued dodging fire.

"G-ghost, remember?" He joked.

"Less joking! More escaping!" Dani shouted as another blast missed them by inches.

"I can't!" He shouted back, gesturing towards the barrier. "I've lost too much energy! This thing's impossible; we can't even touch it without getting drained dry!"

"Then what's the plan?" She shouted as they began following the wall back down. They both knew they were being herded towards the ground, where they'd be unable to escape the earth-bound troops. But both knew that if they went back up, they'd be blasted midair, fall to the earth below, form a small crater, and _then_ get rushed by the troops.

"I don't know!" He shouted back, desperate and feeling a bit ripped off.

Clockwork said he could do this. Why would he lie?

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Tucker and Sam watched the lone agent take care of S and Vlad.

"Do you think he's okay?" Sam asked quietly. Tucker shrugged.

"I don't know. One second, we're talking to the dude, and the next, Danny's flying off and he keels over." His brow furrowed as he watched the guy. "I know he was going to expose Danny, but he was still a decent guy. Sort of." Sam nodded, biting her lip.

"But what will we do when the whole world finds out?" She asked, voice shaking.

"The same thing we did last time." Tucker answered. "Stand with Danny. And this time, at least there are more of us who know, so we can help him out." Sam nodded.

"Yeah." A moment later, her eyes shot up and locked onto a floating purple speck in the sky.

"Hey! Look!" She said, tugging on Tucker's shirt. "Clockwork!" The boy's eyes widened as he saw the Time Ghost standing next to a floating blue portal.

"Yeah, but what's he…now who's that?" He asked, as a second, black dot, appeared next to the Time Ghost. The two held still for a few moments, doing who knows what. Talking, he supposed. The black figure seemed to turn and look straight up at the dome.

Then, the air itself seemed to shake apart under the pressure of a deafening roar.

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Alarms blared behind all the GIW agents. The current, still baffled leader froze and turned around. "A proximity alert?" He cried, staring the map. "How? Nothing can get through the shield." Despite his objections, the ghost-shaped icon continued to blink.

"What's the threat? Give me a class!" Obeying, the computer began its read. A few seconds later, it blew up. He thought he was going to faint. Trembling, he climbed back out of the back and picked up his radio.

"Stand down and secure the vehicles! Invading ghost of unreadable magnitude! Get inside! NOW!"

"What's going on, Sir?" Came a voice over the radio.

And the earth shook.

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All across Amity Park, glass cracked, or in several cases, shattered. The water all along the coastline for several feet out froze solid, and people inside or out clapped their hands over their ears.

As their systems tried to absorb and counter the powerful waves of energy, vehicle after vehicle fried, their GIW weapons and systems rendered useless as every internal circuit was overwhelmed and burnt to cinders.

Val started as the shockwave blasted through the air, seconds after she had safely landed her passengers. "See, Jazz!" She said, rounding on the stunned older girl. "_That_'s why hurrying is _good_!"

And in Tower 22, Damon stared at the screen in shock as the computer exploded in a surge of energy too great for the several rerouting generators installed in every single perimeter tower to bleed away.

One by one, the perimeter towers exploded in a shower of sparks, until eventually they proved insufficient to maintain the gigantic shield. And the bubble burst, leaving behind deafening silence.

Shaking, Sam looked back up towards the speck in the air. But Clockwork was alone. A second later, he vanished as well.

"What the heck was _that_?" Tucker shook his head, pale.

"I don't know. But…I don't think it was aimed at us."

"Good thing." Sam breathed, staring at empty sky.

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Time stopped. Danny blinked, looking around at the frayed remains of the shield, at Dani, sagging with exhaustion, at the now-powerless GIW, and at Clockwork, floating in front of him.

"What…what…" He wheezed, knocked down by the pulse of ectoplasmic energy. Smiling, Clockwork settled down and helped his young friend to his feet.

"I told you. In time." Danny coughed, then froze, staring at the Time Ghost as comprehension dawned.

"Oh boy." He moaned, sinking back to the ground.

Clockwork waited patiently as Danny sat, trying to mentally digest what had just happened.

"I _really_ don't want that." He said at last, looking back up. The Ghost of Time smiled.

"If you ever get it, that's probably the best reason that you deserve it." He answered simply. A portal back to the Master of Time's lair appeared before the two.

"If?" Danny asked, looking up. Clockwork shrugged.

"I don't know, Danny. That was only one potential future out of an infinite number. And contrary to popular belief, I don't know everything."


	17. Hopes

Hello.

Yup, here it is, the end, the finale, the great explanation. As several reviewers have said, Clockwork has been a busy boy. But everything is the way it's supposed to be, so he's also very happy. Hopefully this explains what happened at the end of chapter fifteen, and why it happened. Actually, this should explain why everything happened, and why this is a trilogy. The three stories have had a background conflict involving Cuckoo, going all the way back to the end of the original Pariah war. (Which I will NOT write a fic about! (shoots bunnies))

Thanks and love to all reviewers! Thanks to: Sasia93, "Lisel", Pieling, JDPhoenix, "Quacked Lurker" (seriously. awesome, long and in-depth reviews. much love), hermie-the-frog, Epona Harper, BratCat, Nikky Phantom of theOpera, Unrealistic, Diamond Raider, Writer's-Block DP, SevenStar, AirGirl Phantom, "Linda", Nonasuki-chan, DP fan, Warrior of winds, "Arpeggio", egyptianqueen777, nathow111, Nobody Famous, mattchew, acosta parez jose ramiro, "NNF", Esme Kali Phantom, "Kirika Moonshadow", Meagainsttheworld, Queen S of Randomness 016, MarinJayde, bluename, The Fluff Ghost, Chaos Dragon, viciousberries, Tornada Silverwind, and Amber Jack. You guys rock hard core!

Finally, special thanks to Epona Harper for suggesting Vlad's ultimate ending in this story. I had something else in mind, but this works way better. It's not exactly what you suggested, but your thoughts were definitely the inspiration. Cheers to ya. Special Thanks to SevenStar for doing me the incredible honor of basing a visual work (in this case, a fancomic) off of my stories. I can't wait to see it. And once again thank you to you all. Without readers, these stories, while fun to write, are just words. You're the ones that bring them to life, and inspire me to improve and continue. You really do rock out loud.

Peace!

HiddenAuthor

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Chapter 16 – Hopes

Clockwork's lair was filled with ticking clocks, bells, gears, pendulums, and other forms of time-keeping gadgetry. But right now, Clockwork's lair was also silent.

Because right now, time was frozen.

Gesturing calmly, Clockwork motioned for Danny to take a seat in his favorite lounge chair. The poker deck with the exposed Royal Flush was still sitting on the small table between the two ghosts. Danny cocked an eyebrow.

"I had to pass some time in here recently." His host explained negligently. Danny nodded, sinking back, an uncomfortable expression still on his face.

"Is something wrong, Danny? We have much to talk about, but it would be best if you cleared your head first." Clockwork favored his young friend with a warm smile, which Danny seemed for the moment unable to return. Eventually, the ghost boy sighed.

"That was me, wasn't it? Up there, with you?" Clockwork nodded.

"I pulled him from the current future. There was a slight risk involved since I couldn't look to see if your current future self was good, evil, or powerless, but things turned out fine. You weren't sure?" Danny let his head fall back, slowly rubbing his forehead.

"No, I think I knew." He replied. "But, I didn't want it to be me." Now it was Clockwork's turn to raise an eyebrow. Danny sat up, looking over at the ghost with a pained expression.

"He…I…was so _powerful_. That one attack destroyed the entire ghost shield. It wiped out an entire army's worth of weapons _when it wasn't even aimed at them_." His eyes grew haunted. "How do you control something like that? How do I control myself?"

"Control." Clockwork repeated, and sighed. "Precisely the question that landed both of us in this mess." Danny looked up, confused. The Time Ghost smiled. "I think that's one of the main reasons that you are the first real friend I've made in eons. You can understand the problem that comes with that kind of power; the constant need for self control, other people always trying to control you, manipulate you, destroy you…Perhaps I should explain what I've been up to lately, and why. It may help you understand what's been going on, and why I needed your future self. It might even help you find an answer to your question."

Danny sat still for a while in the eerie silence. Finally, he managed a silent nod. Clockwork cleared his throat.

"I have been arguing with the Ghost Council. The argument dates back a long time, and while it was initially about my own freedom from their plots and desires, it eventually grew to encompass you and Vlad. For you see, you two frighten them very much, and I am the only 'tool' they have capable of correcting that problem."

Danny winced at the fear comment, but seemed at least mildly interested, so his old friend pressed on.

"To begin, it's important to understand the nature of my own power, a secret I seldom share anymore." He explained. "In ancient times I was respected, but lately it has helped to be feared, even slightly, and my true nature makes me hard to fear, and therefore hard to respect. It is true that I am empowered to manipulate time, and that I am able to see the past, present, and each potential future. The only thing I cannot see is which future _will_ be out of all that _may_ be. But despite my powers and knowledge, my nature is more that of a custodian than a lord." He grinned ruefully.

"I _serve_ Time; I'm not its king, or its ruler, despite my ambitios title. I am charged with the task of protecting it, and ensuring that all happens as it is meant to. I am in the course of my duty forbidden to use my powers actively to shape the future, or passively to inform others of it." Clockwork's expression darkened. "Unfortunately, there have always been those who wanted their ideal universe to come to pass, and have sought to manipulate and control me, and through me, Time. And at these times, I find myself trapped by my task, and occasionally forced to act."

A swirling cloud of energy appeared before the two ghosts, and inside Danny could clearly see the image of Pariah Dark, the ghost king. Clockwork sighed.

"Before Pariah Dark, I was largely respected and ignored." He confided. "The nature of my power was known, and no ghost would presume to force me to do anything. But then war came."

Within the cloud, armies gathered, one before the ghost king and the other before a small group of ghosts in red robes.

"The war between the two forces lasted for centuries. Neither had the power to overthrow the other. And in time, Pariah Dark presumed in his arrogance to control me. I was given an ultimatum. If I did not use my power, he swore to wage war upon me once he claimed victory. The threat was again made shortly afterward by his enemies."

The Time Ghost paused, and favored the staring Danny with a tight, sad smile.

"You see my predicament. If I did nothing, whichever army won would be at my doorstep the next day. I would then either be forced to act in my defense, or allow them to destroy me. And even _I_ do not know what effect my destruction would have on Time. I could not risk that. So, I realized, I would _have_ to act. For one side or the other."

"I chose to fight Pariah."

Within the swirling green energies, Clockwork strode forth and stood before a great floating island. Danny watched, horrified, as the Ghost of Time stood alone against an army hundreds of times larger than any he had fought when battling the Ghost King. The island itself was larger, at that time unshattered by the ancient spirits' might, and was filled to bursting with an army of ghostly skeleton warriors. Around the parapets, a legion of skeleton dragons hovered, slowly flapping their tattered wings. And behind them all stood Pariah Dark, wreathed in green flame, crown and ring visible for all the Ghost Zone to see.

"I chose him because he had started the mess by first threatening me." His friend said simply, eyes never leaving the image before them. "I assumed the five other spirits came to me in desperation instead of arrogance, and that if I only eliminated this dark ruler, Time would once again be safe."

The Clockwork in the vision stretched out his hand, and the very fabric of reality seemed to blur and shift around his floating form, sending spiraling energies out towards the floating island. As it made contact, there was no impact. No energy seemed expended. And yet, row after row of warriors collapsed into flame and dust in an instant, as millennia passed in seconds. Swords rusted away, bones collapsed; dragons fell from the sky as their membranes dissolved in a maelstrom of pure, unstoppable time.

Until Pariah stood alone, frozen by Clockwork's power, unable to move and unaware that he was not moving. The robed ghosts stretched out their hands, and the empty remains of his vast fortress shattered. After stealing his royal tokens, the spirits lowered the still-frozen form of the Ghost King into a sarcophagus and sealed him away, defeated. The centuries-long war had been ended in less than an hour, by one ghost.

Danny turned awestruck and horrified eyes on his ancient friend, who was watching the window with an equally troubled expression.

"Never before then had I exercised my powers in a way that would change history." He said quietly. "It was horrifying, violating my very nature, my purpose. Despite all of the destruction and pain that had been prevented, I could never forgive myself. I vowed that day to never do so again. But the ancient spirits, founders and some still members of the Ghost Council, witnessed what I had done. In fear, they never provoked me again until a second danger, too great for them to control, manifested itself."

Clockwork turned and faced his young friend.

"You." Danny paled.

"Me?"

"You." He repeated grimly. "Or your evil future self, at any rate. My power is unique in all of the Ghost Zone, but there are two others who gained the power to see into the future, though only the most likely one. They are known as The Observants." The window changed, and showed two ghosts who resembled floating eyeballs, looking in horror at the dark future that Danny had prevented. "When they saw this, they took the news to the Ghost Council. And then they came back to me, with the second of three ultimatums that I have received in all of history. Once again, I was forced into action. However, I could not kill you. As I told the Council during my trial, you were innocent of any crime. It would have been unjust. So I guided you to a different path, and in the course of my meddling, came to respect and eventually to like you. But this time, my actions had a consequence." The floating window fixed on an image of Danny's evil future self.

"The Paradox, Dan Phantom. It was necessary that he exist in this reality for a time, so that you could learn your lesson and steer away from evil. However, his very existence posed a grave risk to the Ghost Zone, and violated the nature of Time itself. So, I locked him away, and set about preparing for the day when he could be destroyed." The window changed again, this time showing a now-familiar chamber.

"My first step was to reestablish my ties with the Ghost Council. Since Pariah's defeat, all ghosts have been granted certain rights by the Council; a lair, a haunt, and some degree of privacy in our own homes. Of the other four members on the Council, only the chief ghost, Gregory, and the woman ghost, Drezelle, agreed that you and Vlad should have these rights at all. The others were either callous or openly aggressive to the strange new creature that had come to invade their home. The fifth ghost before me, Bartus, had eventually allowed Vlad his rights, but had been bribed. When I arrived to speak at the Council, he was firmly opposed to your receiving those rights, as I'm sure Vlad wanted. I replaced him on the Council, and pushed that the rights be extended to you." The window opened once again.

"Clockwork." Intoned the wispy memory of the chief ghost. "You understand what it is that you ask?"

"Yes." The past Time Ghost replied calmly. "Masters has already been granted these rights, and is living in relative peace, while Danny suffers constant attack and invasion. I have already revealed to you that Bartus was being controlled by Masters specifically to deny the boy his precedented rights; it is only just that we give them to him."

"Very well." Gregory replied, ignoring the looks of indignation on his immediate left and right. "Send someone out to fetch the boy, and let's be done with this."

"I think I have someone." Called out Drezelle, the ghost on the far right. "A freed prisoner, released from Walker's control after he managed to prove he had been falsely accused and unjustly imprisoned. I believe he mentioned working with the boy."

"If you say so." Grumbled Gregory. "I don't speak a word of that gobblety-gook."

"I believe it is Esperanto." Clockwork replied mildly with a smile. "And Wulf should do perfectly."

The window once again closed. Danny looked over at his friend.

"That's the day you showed me how to make a lair." Clockwork nodded.

"Yes. It seemed fair that you have some peace and quiet, and the barrier against Vlad would draw Danielle to you, giving you support for when I knew Dan would escape." Danny scowled slightly at the reminder that his friend's manipulations had almost caused Dani's death. "But then, your powers began to develop."

The window reformed, showing a horrified council look at Vlad's defeat at the docks.

"Clockwork." Gregory said in a low, terrified whisper. "What _was_ that power?" The Time Ghost shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"It was Danny." He conceded at last. "But, his energy will go back down shortly, there were outside circumstances involved."

"Outside circumstances!" Shouted the ghost to his inside. "Not even Pariah managed a power so great. What is _happening_, Clockwork?"

"Will the boy become as powerful as that?" Gregory asked. Sagging, Clockwork nodded. "Then you must do something, Clockwork. Such a power can not be allowed to exist again." The Time Ghost seemed to freeze, and then looked up, eyes alight.

"No." The others were taken aback.

"No? Clockwork, you forget who is in charge, here, you-"

"I said, no. I will not change Time; I will not manipulate the way things are meant to be. You forget, Pariah asked this of me once, and you saw my reply. Now if you'll excuse me, that ghost broke our laws, and I have a job to do." The memory Clockwork turned and left in a flash of power.

The real Clockwork turned to Danny with a wry, sad smile.

"Yes, even then I was bluffing. Always bluffing. If only they'd accept that I do not wish to act, I wouldn't have to threaten anyone, or pretend to revel in awesome power. But of course, my pleas and threats fell on deaf ears. The Council and I have been fighting about you ever since. Gregory became terrified that you would become the next Ghost King. And in his fear, he switched sides, tipping the balance of power against you."

"When I did eventually allow Dan's escape and watch as you and Danielle eliminated him from the timeline, the Council was more than ready to pounce on my actions and impeach me. I was removed from office, and Bartus was reinstated, his crimes against you deemed pardonable for obvious reasons. They felt that once I was off the Council, they could go their own way and eventually destroy you on their own."

"They commanded me to forfeit my powers. I could have defied them, but that would have been a twofold mistake. First," he said with a wink, "it would have set a bad example for you. And second, the council would have immediately attacked me, forcing me to bend Time to my will in defense and break my vow. So I obeyed, and watched, and waited. I had seen much of what was to come, and pushed and bluffed where I had to, all to ensure that Gregory did not order me to act until I _wanted_ to act. And when I finally did, I saved you from certain destruction and exposure and stopped all plots to manipulate us in one fell swoop."

There was silence in the frozen room for several long seconds.

"What?" Clockwork quirked an eyebrow.

"What what?"

"How did bringing some super-powerful future me in to save the day get the Council off your…our…whatever…back?" He asked in exasperation, feeling a headache starting to set in.

"Simple. The past is fixed." Clockwork said smugly. "No matter what the Council does now, they lose. That future version of you was the only being in existence with the power to knock down that shield. If he hadn't, you would have been exposed, and the Council would soon face an army of half-ghost GIW troops, or some other invasion. So," he said, grinning, "The Council can take no action to weaken or kill you until whatever unnamed date I pulled that version of you from, or it will create the mother of all paradoxes! They can't do a thing, and my actions were fully justified by their own orders!"

"So…all of that 'strategy future' stuff was about…the Council?" Danny asked, shaking his head.

"Oh, no, no! That was about you facing Vlad and the Guys in White."

"But you said you expected me to fail!" The ghost boy argued, his headache getting worse.

"Of course I expected you to fail." Clockwork said lightly. "You were overmatched, Danny. I knew that from the beginning, when I first warned you of the future to come. My advice and preparation was just to keep you alive and under cover long enough for the shields to go up, so I could force the Council's hands. Under the circumstances, you did a spectacular job. I was just looking beyond that eventual failure and trying to get us both out of a situation where the Council would force me to kill you!"

"My head hurts." Danny announced at last, miserably. Sighing, he fell back against the lounge chair. Clockwork nodded sympathetically.

"It is a lot to hear, Danny. But you're safer now than you've been in months, maybe years, and things should quiet down again for a while."

"But you didn't answer my question." He said, rubbing his head. "Is the Council right to be afraid of me? Were you right to stop them? How do I control that kind of power?"

"Danny. The power isn't something evil, that will rule and change you. If you remain true to yourself, would you ever abuse it, or use it for dark reasons?" After a while, Danny shook his head. "I don't think so either. The Council is afraid of you because you represent change. Whether you become evil or not, you represent a major power shift to come. They acted out of fear and ignorance, and I have taken steps to protect you. I acted because I believe you will be a good person, Danny, and more deserving of that power than any other being I've met in all my existence." Danny didn't answer, though he did look inexplicably red.

Leaning forward, the time ghost picked up his cards and shuffled.

"Poker?" Danny shook his head.

"No. I think I should head home." He replied, floating up and heading for the door. "I've got a lot to think about, and my family probably needs me." Clockwork nodded, absently waving goodbye as he let time move again.

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Maddie smiled tenderly down at her husband from beside the hospital bed. Sure, he'd been beaten up pretty bad, but as he himself had said only an hour ago, _it'll take more than twenty compound fractures, multiple second degree burns, and a major concussion to take down Jack Fenton_! He was deeply asleep, but the doctors had said that that was to be expected.

When she'd finally managed to work through the retreating GIW vehicles and get to the hospital, she'd been shocked as Jazz ran up and hugged her harder than she had in years and cried. It had been almost an hour until she had been able to leave her daughter and see her husband. Jack had been grinning at her from his hospital bed as three different nurses adjusted elevated casts and medicine drips. Though he hadn't been able to stay awake long, at least she knew he wasn't going to let this accident bring him down.

After hearing his slurred take on events, and factoring in what Dani told her much later that evening, it seemed that Jack had just managed to fuse Dani together when the upper floors of the Fenton home exploded and collapsed downward. A barely awake and confused Danielle had barely managed to spin an energy shield around the pair before bombs hidden behind the portal finished the job. Collapsing under the sudden strain, Dani's long-slumbering ghost powers had been nearly overwhelmed, and she had been forced to stay in the basement with the unconscious and wounded Hunter for several minutes while she gathered her strength. It had been a near thing, and she hadn't been able to keep Jack completely safe, but she had done her best and Maddie didn't think she could ever thank her adopted daughter enough. Her children had eventually taken off with Valerie and Damon Gray to stay at their apartment for the night.

Maddie would go see them tomorrow. For now, she just wanted to watch her husband sleep.

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S looked over at his prisoner with a curious expression on his face as the GIW vehicles rolled out of town. Not that they had a choice with all of their weapons destroyed and public opinion firmly turned against them. Phantom had once again escaped, this time protected by the city of humans who had come to care for him in some obscure, grateful way. And yet agent S could not seem to summon up his old righteous fury over K's condition. Every time he tried, a horrified and sorrowful expression seemed to shoot fleetingly across his mind, accompanied by a mysterious blue light.

Musing, the battered, confused man turned his eyes back to the scan results. The mysterious white-haired man locked to the table showed signs of ecto-contamination, but the ghostly substance seemed completely inert, causing no damage to his body. When he awoke, S would be sure to ask him how he had been exposed. And how the two of them had come to be knocked unconscious at the Manson home.

The Guys in White had gone to Amity to defame and capture Phantom. In the process, S had been knocked out and lost several hours of memory. (Not that he was going to admit that; he'd seen what had happened to K.) The Guys in White had taken more negative publicity than ever before in their entire history, and had lost millions of dollars of sophisticated weaponry and equipment. And M had died. The body had been found outside Tower 22, a dark burn on his chest.

Inside, they had found the unconscious and severely beaten body of a Mr. Smith. Hours later, the alert man had claimed that he had helped to build the Tower system with DALV Corporation as charity work, and had been overshadowed by a ghost and forced to act the way he had. Though he didn't know why, S was positive that was a lie. When asked to produce his superior for questioning, he had named the DALV president, a white-haired man named Vlad Masters, who'd happened to be at the Manson home that day.

Oh yes, when this prisoner woke up, S was going to have some questions for him.

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Sam sighed to herself from the bed in her private suite at the Amity Park Royale. She had wanted to spend the night with Tucker, and help work through everything that had been happening with friends. But her parents, so used to a standard of luxury, had booked the upper floor of the hotel for a solid month. Who would have thought that the Mansons, upper crust elite of Amity Park, would be homeless?

But that wasn't what was keeping Sam awake. She couldn't stop thinking about her grandmother. The things she had said and done that day had taken even Sam, who thought she knew the elderly woman, completely by surprise. After a deep breath, the young Goth tiptoed down the hall to the room her grandmother had chosen, and quietly slipped inside.

"Grandma?" She whispered. "I was thinking about what happened today, and I think we should…"

Her grandmother was asleep, one hand draped over the bedside end table.

"Talk." She finished lamely, walking up to fold the comforter over the elderly woman and do her best to settle her in without waking her. As she did, her eyes strayed to what the woman had been working on.

_My Sammy_, proclaimed the cover of a large, violet scrapbook. Smiling softly, Sam went over to the book and idly flipped through its pages.

It started simply with baby photos, pictures of Sam in fancy dresses going to balls with her parents as a young girl. Over time, the little girl seemed to smile less and less, and then only with her grandma, the dresses and hair patterns conspicuously absent.

Then there was an abrupt change in theme. The next section showed her smiling again, with Danny and Tucker, dressed all in black. _'Sammy happy again.'_ Read the caption. Sam grinned, pointedly ignoring the slight moisture in her eyes. The pictures continued through to high school, where another transition took place.

The next section was broken up. The photos were still there, but mixed in were news clippings.

'_Mysterious Ghost Boy in Amity Park.'_

'_Ghost Boy Drops Millionaire Heiress at Local Goth Circus.'_

'_Invisobill Attacks Mayor!'_

'_Phantom Saves Town!'_

'_Local Boy Danny Fenton Leads Attack on Ghost Pirate Ship.'_

In each article, Sam was somewhere in the picture, either beside Phantom or with Fenton. _'Sam as a Hero_', it proudly proclaimed. The Goth girl blushed slightly. Then, as Sam turned the page again, she gasped out loud.

It was a pair of photos. One looked like a paper clip of Phantom, and the other was Danny from one of the hundreds of group shots. They were side by side. _'Sammy in Love' _it said simply.

"Does she know?" Sam asked quietly. "Grandma?"

But no further answers were to be found; it was the last page. _'I see how you look at him' _she remembered the woman saying. But that could just mean that she knew Sam felt for Phantom, not that he was Danny. _'Your parents can be blind if they want, but I'm not!'_

Somehow, Sam didn't feel worried about this in the least. Whether her grandma knew or not. Smiling, and feeling much better, the Goth headed back to bed.

"Oh yes, we'll have that talk Grandma." She said quietly as she closed the door. "Soon."

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Jazz walked back into the Gray's spare bedroom slowly, the morning paper clutched in her hand. She'd walked out an hour ago to have breakfast and say thank you to Damon and Val. Danny had been snoring and drooling into his pillow, body hanging half off of the inflatable mattress. Dani was snoring away on Val's floor. And no wonder; they'd had a pretty intense day yesterday. To put it mildly.

As the older girl opened the door, she found Danny sitting up on the bed, looking at a small wall-hung mirror thoughtfully. Oh boy.

"Uh, Danny?" She asked hesitantly. Her brother started, and looked around at her, smiling sheepishly.

"Oh, uh, sorry Jazz." He said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I've been, uh, thinking."

His sister smiled slightly and tossed him the paper. He caught it and looked down, a curious expression on his face.

'_Ghost Shield Vast Conspiracy! Mayor Claims Ignorance, Head of Towers Claims Overshadowing.'_

'_Spook run By Government! Secret Undercover Branch Plots to Capture Local Ghosts!'_

'_Unidentified Flying Object Spotted Over Amity; Source of Powerful Sonic Attack!'_

'_Local Party Guest Controlled by Alien Force! Proof is In the Eyes, Claims Elderly Manson.'_

'_Billionaire Vlad Masters Accused of Plots to Control Amity Park, Murder and Assault of Two Government Agents! Claims Innocence.'_

"It's good to see real news again, not some ridiculous Tabloid garbage." She said cheerfully. Danny cracked a half-smile.

"Only in Amity Park." He said in a voice that mixed amusement and resignation, before his expression once again grew thoughtful. Jazz cleared her throat.

"Uh, could I ask what you're thinking about?" She asked hesitantly. "I mean, we won, right?" Danny shrugged.

"I guess." He conceded. "I was just thinking about…you know... _me_. Or other me."

"Oh." Jazz said quietly, sitting down beside her brother. "Danny, no matter what, you'll always be my brother, and I care about you. And I know you'll do fine. It's not about what you can do, it's what you choose to do that matters." As she gathered her mental notes to start a pep talk / lecture, she paused as she saw him actually nodding.

"Actually, I think I figured that out on my own." He said, smiling again and looking straight at the mirror without flinching. "I am who I am, Jazz. And I think, after all of this, I can be cool with it. I know people will be afraid, or suspicious, or angry about me. But I won't be anymore. It's my life; being scared of it is stupid." Jazz's mouth worked silently for a few seconds, but finally she gave up and hugged him.

"I'm so glad you're better." She whispered.

"That's great Jazz." He wheezed. "But could you maybe let go? I'd like to stay _half_ alive, if that's okay with you." Chuckling, she let him go. There was a knock on the door.

"Come on you guys!" Dani said, bursting in. Val smiled behind the girl. "Mr. Fenton woke up! The doctors say we can go see him now, and Mrs. Fenton will meet us there!" Beaming, Jazz headed off with the younger girl, pushing her against the wall so she could sneak ahead. Valerie smiled at Danny as he headed off to join along.

"So, how you doing, ghost?" She asked with a wicked grin. "Think things will change now that people have seen what you can _really _do?" Danny snorted, turning to walk beside her out the door.

"That's half ghost to you." He retorted with a small smile. "And they can just deal with it."

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From his position before the viewing window, Clockwork smiled. Yes, things had certainly worked out for the best. His smile briefly grew before he tightly clamped down on it as Gregory reappeared, venting his impotent fury.

"Clockwork!"

"Have you ever noticed that you always seem to greet me by yelling my name?" The Time Ghost asked conversationally. "Hello would be much more polite."

"Don't get cute with me! What did you do?" Clockwork's smile slipped for the barest second.

"Why what you told me to, of course." He answered mildly. "There is now almost no risk of exposure."

"But you used the boy!"

"Technically I used his future self." Clockwork corrected. "It was necessary to bring down that shield. You have my word on that."

"But now we cannot touch him! We have to let him grow into that power or face a paradox of time the likes of which even _you_ have never seen!"

"Yes."

"Yes? That's it? It's a catastrophe! Hundreds of plans stopped! Useless! And what about the fiasco with Plasmius?"

"Oh, it's just Vlad, actually." Clockwork responded conversationally. "The GIW was kind enough to clean out every last trace of ectoplasm from his system before he awoke, and it had a rather…destructive effect on his ghost half." Yes, Clockwork would be flashing back to the look on Master's face when he heard that for a _long_ time. Priceless. "Of course, I cannot continue my punishment over him now that he's no longer a ghost, but I doubt he'll be a great threat any longer. You should be pleased." Gregory's eyes narrowed.

"It seems that the brunt of damage has occurred to the boy's enemies, here, Clockwork. Phantom himself seems to have benefited greatly from your meddling." Clockwork gave a small, enigmatic smile.

"That _is_ strange. But remember, I only ever acted on your orders, and everything you wanted has come to pass."

"You manipulated me!" Greg shrieked. "You knew this would happen! All of it! Even this part!" Clockwork grinned.

"Gregory, I have already told you the truth of foresight. From the beginning, I could only do what I thought would turn out for the best. Time is a complicated and exceptional force, Greg. I had no idea whatsoever that things would work out this way."

"Hmmph!" Grumbled the chief ghost as he vanished in a flash of power. Clockwork smiled as he turned once again to the view of his young friend, safe at last from meddling and death. At least if the council had anything to say about it.

"But I had hopes."

END!

Cue the travel music from The Time Machine!

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Right, so that's the end. Everything blew up, but things seem to be turning out for the best. I hope this explained exactly what was up, and why Clockwork had to act. There are a few things that are not clear, however.

What will Vlad do now? Will he avoid Federal Prison? Can he find a way to restore his ghost powers?

Does Grandma Mason know? Does Damon? Will agent S remember? And what's his real name, anyway?

Will Tucker and Val have French or Italian?

What will happen next?

To be honest, I don't know all of it myself. However, if you guys want, I'll continue this DP universe past the trilogy with my next work, based off of plot bunny number two: Danny's human body gets ghostish. I have several ideas on what will happen and why. Finally, thanks for the responses. Your reviews have meant the world to me. I have decided to use the name Evolutions. It will either describe the trilogy by itself or the entire arc. (When there is an arc) Thanks for all the suggestions. At the very least, they inspired me. I look forward to hearing from you all again when I create my next story. Can't wait!

HiddenAuthor


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